The owner of Forest Hills, New York, U.S.A.-based seafood company Foodie Fisherman has been charged with money laundering – among other crimes – and his wife, a New York political official, has been charged with taking payoffs in exchange for pursuing actions that benefited China.
On 3 September, Christopher Hu was arrested along with his wife, Linda Sun, who’s accused of acting as an agent of the Chinese government in her earlier role as an aide to former New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
“Sun is alleged to be an undisclosed agent of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, using Chinese money and her influence within the state of New York to benefit the Chinese government,” Thomas Fattorusso, the Internal Revenue Service's special agent in charge of criminal investigations in New York, said in a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. “Sun and her husband then laundered millions of dollars for the foreign country and used the monetary benefits of this scheme to buy luxury vehicles and million-dollar properties here in New York.”
The indictment states Hu was assisted by Chinese officials in exporting lobsters to China’s most populous province, Henan, in 2016 and then laundering millions of dollars accrued from those lobster sales without declaring the income on his taxes.
Sun is accused of using her position to pursue actions that benefitted the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party, including influencing statements made on China and Taiwan, and on China's treatment of Uyghur minorities, sent out by the governor's office for which she worked. She is also accused of forging letters of invitation from the governor's office, allowing Chinese officials to enter the U.S.
In exchange, the couple received travel benefits, event tickets, Nanjing-style salted ducks, and more for their actions, according to the indictment.
“As alleged in the indictment, Linda Sun and Chris Hu deceived the highest leadership of New York government to further the political agenda of the government of China," FBI Counterintelligence Division Assistant Director Kevin Vorndran said.
Sun and Hu both pleaded not guilty to all charges. Sun’s bond is set at USD 1.5 million (EUR 1.35 million), and her husband’s is set at USD 500,000 (EUR 451,000). Their next court date is set for 25 September.
