A former aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul was taken into custody Tuesday morning, according to federal prosecutors.
The FBI’s arrests of Linda Sun and her husband, Christopher Hu, came a month and a half after federal authorities searched their home in the Long Island hamlet of Manhasset as part of a then-ongoing investigation on July 24. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn confirmed Sun and Hu had been taken into custody.
The case remains under seal and the couple is expected to be arraigned later Tuesday according to three sources who were not authorized to disclose details of the arrests. The arrests were first reported by Newsday.
Sun was Hochul’s deputy chief of staff in 2021 and 2022 before serving as deputy commissioner at the state Department of Labor. In a statement Tuesday, Hochul spokesperson Avi Small said the governor’s administration fired Sun in March 2023.
“We terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process,” Small said.
Prior to her roles in the Hochul administration, she served a number of roles in the Cuomo administration, including a high-ranking post in the state’s economic development branch that included organizing international trade missions, according to her LinkedIn account.
Sun also once served as chief of staff to then-Assemblymember Grace Meng, who is now in Congress.
Hu has registered a handful of businesses at the couple’s current and prior addresses. On her most recent state financial disclosure forms, Sun said Hu was the CEO of Foodie Fisherman LLC, a seafood merchant that specializes in importing and exporting. In 2016, Hu was part of a delegation that met with representatives of the Chinese government in Massachusetts, the Gloucester Times reported at the time.
The couple purchased their Manhasset home for $3.6 million in 2021, according to property records.
Prior to that, they lived in Queens, most recent in Forest Hills.
This story has been updated to include more details about the arrests of Linda Sun and Christopher Hu, and a statement from a spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul.
