FBI Director Kash Patel is sounding the alarm over new bribery charges tied to Linda Sun, a former aide to New York Governors Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul. The allegations center on a pandemic-era PPE fraud scheme, now entangled with accusations of foreign espionage. Sun is accused not only of orchestrating a multi-million-dollar fraud but also of acting as an unregistered agent for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“While Americans were locked down and desperate for PPE, Linda Sun and Chris Hu cashed in – allegedly lining their pockets while serving CCP interests,” Patel posted on X. “This is corruption that endangered lives. The FBI will not tolerate public officials who sell out their country.”
According to prosecutors, Sun used her political influence during the COVID-19 crisis to secure PPE contracts between New York State and China-based vendors, reaping millions in kickbacks. In one instance, she allegedly removed a top vendor from a list provided by Chinese officials and replaced it with a company owned by her cousin. She then edited documents to falsely promote the cousin’s masks as “the gold standard.”
As a result of the scheme, the couple allegedly received $2.3 million in kickbacks from the cousin’s company. Investigators uncovered a spreadsheet maintained by Sun’s husband, Chris Hu, labeled “Me,” which detailed how they expected to earn more than $8 million in total from the fraudulent contracts.
Sun was arrested in September on charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Now, both she and Hu face additional serious charges, including wire fraud, conspiracy, and bribery. Hu is also accused of laundering the illicit proceeds through accounts opened under a family member’s name.
This case unfolds alongside another disturbing incident involving Chinese nationals Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu. The two are accused of smuggling Fusarium graminearum—a crop-killing fungus—into the United States. The fungus is a known threat to key U.S. crops like corn, rice, and barley.
“These two aliens have been charged with smuggling a fungus that has been described as a ‘potential agroterrorism weapon’ into the heartland of America,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. Together, both cases underscore intensifying national security concerns tied to foreign influence and biological threats from the CCP.
