Ex-Hochul, Cuomo aide accused of being Chinese spy stays free as feds push new charges in $8M PPE kickback scheme
There’s something new under the sun.Linda Sun, the embattled ex-aide to Govs.Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo accused of being a Chinese spy, will stay free on bail after facing a federal judge Monday on fresh bribery charges.
Sun her husband Chris Hu both pleaded not guilty during a four-minute proceeding in Brooklyn that set the stage for a potentially sprawling trial focused on accusations she served as a foreign agent for the People’s Republic of China and Chinese Community Party while working at the highest level of New York’s government.A federal grand jury last week returned a superseding indictment that added more charges against Sun and Hu after the feds said they reaped $8 million in a COVID-era personal protective equipment kickback scheme.“Not only did Sun allegedly use Chinese money and her influence in New York State to benefit the Chinese government, it is further alleged that she used her position to steer multi-million-dollar contracts to companies controlled by family members and friends,” said Harry T.Chavis, Jr., special agent in charge for the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigation office in New York.The two Chinese-based PPE vendors that Sun steered contracts toward were respectively run by her second cousin and Hu and his business partner, the feds alleged.Sun allegedly even altered an email to claim one company had been recommended by a China-based chamber of commerce, when it actually was run by her second cousin, prosecutors said.The cousin had allegedly given $2.3 million in kickbacks to Sun and Hu, the feds contended.A judge kept Sun’s and Hu’s respective $1.5 million and $500,000 bonds — which they posted after they were first charged in September with acting as foreign agents for China — intact, meaning they’ll remain out of federal jail until trial.Sun, 41, who wore a blue dress, entered a not guilty plea alongside Hu, 40, during the latest arraignment.Their trial is scheduled to begin Nov.
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