Ex-NY state aide who lived the high life as alleged secret Chinese agent heads to trial

An ex-top state aide who lived a life of luxury allegedly fueled by millions of dollars in kickbacks from China is headed to trial — and the case could expose a brazen Beijing influence campaign in the highest reaches of Albany.

In exchange for advancing China’s agenda in the Empire State, Linda Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, were showered with payoffs — which they used to splurge on a gaudy $4 million Long Island mansion, a $2 million second home in Hawaii and flashy cars like a Ferrari Roma, prosecutors allege.

A jury in Brooklyn federal court is set to hear opening statements in the bombshell case Wednesday morning.

Sun, 42, is accused of using her government perch to sway Govs. Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo to benefit Chinese interests.

This as her Beijing backers steered millions to Hu’s Chinese business ventures and doled out fancy perks like ballet tickets and salted ducks prepared by a private chef, according to prosecutors.

Sun quickly rose the Albany ranks after coming to the state capitol in 2009 as a close ally and chief of staff to then-Assemblywoman Grace Meng, now a Democrat congresswoman repping Queens.

She served as director of Asian-American affairs under Cuomo, who resigned in disgrace in 2021 after a state probe detailed allegations that he sexually harassed 11 women.

Prosecutors are likely to present evidence at trial about how Sun bragged to Chinese consulate officials that she had stopped Cuomo from publicly thanking Taiwan, which governs itself but whose independence Beijing refuses to acknowledge, according to court documents.

It came after Taiwan sent 200,000 much-needed masks to New York during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, documents state. 

But when Beijing chipped in 1 million surgical masks for New York essential workers, Sun successfully lobbied Cuomo to thank Chinese Consul General Huang Ping on social media, court papers detail.

The alleged Chinese agent allegedly claimed credit for blocking meetings between Taiwanese officials and both Cuomo and Hochul, and for convincing Cuomo to omit Taiwan from a press statement.

“I almost had a heart attack when we referred to Taiwan as a country,” Sun allegedly texted a consulate official in October 2020. “Thankfully I had the press team correct it immediately.”

Sun also allegedly secretly allowed one of her Chinese handlers to listen in on a private government conference call in March 2020, where officials discussed how to respond to the pandemic.

Under Cuomo’s successor Hochul, Sun was promoted to deputy chief of staff in the executive chamber.

She was ultimately fired in March 2023 after the administration uncovered misconduct that it reported to law enforcement, according to the governor’s office.

The Chinese government rewarded Sun and Hu with millions of dollars sent to Hu’s China-based businesses, plus perks like tickets to see the Guangzhou Ballet at Lincoln Center and chef-prepared “Nanjing-style” salted ducks delivered to Sun’s parents’ home, documents state.

The illicit funds allowed the pair to afford the Manhasset manse, the ocean-view Honolulu condo and at least three luxury cars — despite Sun’s salary never reaching more than $145,000 and Hu not reporting much income from his Queens seafood exporting firm, according to the feds.

Sun and Hu, 42, have pleaded not guilty to charges of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering that carry a possible decades-long prison sentence.

Their lawyers have argued that the feds have harped on the duo’s lavish lifestyle in order to distract from purported gaps in the case.

“This indictment is about money. In the government’s view, Ms. Sun and her family simply have too much and so there must be a nefarious reason,” Sun’s attorney Jarrod Schaeffer wrote to the court last November.

“Sputtering about state ethics rules and undisclosed gifts,” Schaeffer continued, “the government eventually reached the conclusion that when a woman of Chinese heritage allegedly receives unreported gifts from other Chinese individuals, she must be bought and paid for by China.”