A top aide to disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has just been arrested in a massive FBI corruption case tied to COVID-era fraud, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda Sun, who stayed on under Gov. Kathy Hochul after Cuomo\u2019s resignation, is now facing federal charges for running what prosecutors called a \u201cfraudulent scheme\u201d during the pandemic involving the sale of PPE like masks and face shields, The New York Post reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it gets worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FBI Director Kash Patel says Sun wasn\u2019t just running a scam \u2014 she was allegedly acting as an agent for the Chinese Communist Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile Americans were locked down and desperate for PPE, Linda Sun and Chris Hu cashed in \u2013 allegedly lining their pockets while serving CCP interests,\u201d Patel wrote on X. \u201cThis is corruption that endangered lives. The FBI will not tolerate public officials who sell out their country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, are accused of steering state contracts to vendors where they had a financial interest. The couple allegedly raked in millions of dollars and now face a long list of federal charges including honest services wire fraud, conspiracy, bribery, tax evasion, and defrauding the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prosecutors say Sun also forged paperwork that appeared to come from Chinese government authorities to push through the PPE deals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs alleged, Linda Sun not only acted as unregistered agent of the government of the People\u2019s Republic of China, but also enriched herself to the tune of millions of dollars when New York State was at its most vulnerable at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen masks, gloves, and other protective supplies were hard to find, Sun abused her position of trust to steer contracts to her associates so that she and her husband could share in the profits. We demand better from our public servants, and this Office will continue to hold accountable public officials who enrich themselves at the expense of the New York taxpayers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis alleged scheme not only created an unearned and undisclosed benefit for the defendants and their relatives, but it also exploited the state\u2019s critical need for resources in a health crisis,\u201d Christopher Raia, FBI Assistant Director in Charge said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, the case is part of a wider crackdown on pandemic fraud \u2014 one he says is the largest healthcare fraud investigation in Justice Department history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n