Forged Letters, Luxury Lifestyle: Takeaways So Far From Trial of Accused Chinese Agent

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Nov 25, 2025 - 10:54 Updated: Nov 24, 2025 - 19:51
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Forged Letters, Luxury Lifestyle: Takeaways So Far From Trial of Accused Chinese Agent

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NEW YORK—In the trial of Linda Sun, a former aide to New York governors accused of acting as a Chinese agent, the court has heard evidence of forged signatures of Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sun’s close contact with Chinese consular staff, as well as of luxury items purchased with payouts from China.

The former aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Hochul was indicted last year over allegedly using her position to push the agenda of the Chinese Communist Party in return for millions paid to her husband’s business. Sun has pleaded not guilty.

Sun is on trial in a federal court in the New York City borough of Brooklyn for the Eastern District of New York, with former colleagues and coworkers taking the stand to testify.

After almost two weeks of a trial that is expected to run until mid-December, here are some key takeaways so far.

Delegation Invitation Letters Allegedly Forged

Federal prosecutors alleged Sun put together an official invitation letter to help Chinese officials travel to New York. Without approval, she allegedly signed then-Lt. Gov. Hochul’s signature on the letter, which was on official letterhead. According to the prosecution, officials from the Chinese province of Henan used that letter to apply for visas to travel to the United States. 
Prosecutors showed the letter to Jeffrey Lewis, who worked for Hochul for 13 years, including as her chief of staff. Lewis was authorized to use her signature.

Lewis testified that the signature on the invitation for Henan officials was not Hochul’s. He explained that Hochul connects and merges the “h” and “y” in Kathy; that “H” in Hochul is connected with the “o” and the “h-u-l” run together.

Lewis also testified that the only Chinese delegation invitation letter he could recall that Gov. Cuomo requested Lt. Gov. Hochul write was in 2017, for a delegation from Jiangxi Province.
Lewis also pointed out that the alleged forged letters were on generic letterhead from the governor’s office, which is distinct from the letterhead of the lieutenant governor, which was used in the Jiangxi letter. In 2018 and 2019, the years the Henan letters were issued, Sun worked in the office of the governor.

Liaison With Chinese Consular Staff

Prosecutors presented evidence suggesting Sun prioritized requests of the Chinese consulate over her duty to the state of New York.

In 2019, Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, traveled to New York and held a banquet on July 12. Taiwan’s representatives in New York invited Cuomo to join the event.

Prosecutors presented emails at trial that showed that when Sun received the banquet invitation for the governor, her first action was not to forward it to the governor’s scheduler, but to immediately alert the Chinese consulate.

The emails showed that Sun received the invitation on July 5 at 6:32 p.m. One minute later, at 6:33 p.m., she emailed her contact at the Chinese consulate in New York, Li Li Hu, with the text “FYI.”

The following day, Sun replied to the representative for Taiwan and declined the invitation on the governor’s behalf.

According to Jessica Pulver, who worked in the governor’s Invitations Office in 2019, the office never received the invitation for Cuomo to join the banquet with Tsai. In testimony at the trial, Pulver explained that the expectation was that all invitations for the governor would be forwarded.

The incident is one example of the close collaborative relationship Sun had with the Chinese consulate, according to prosecutors. When Consul General Zhang Qiyue left her post in New York in May 2018, she sent Sun a farewell letter that ended with, “Your personal friendship and kind support will always be cherished.”

Luxury Goods

During FBI searches of Sun’s and her parents’ homes, the FBI found luxury cars, watches, and designer handbags. These items, prosecutors say, suggest means beyond that of her state employee salary, which in 2021 was $144,000.

In addition, documents and gifts from Chinese officials show a pattern of close ties with Chinese officials, according to prosecutors.

In July 2024, the FBI searched Sun’s home in Manhasset, New York, her parents’ apartment in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens, and their TD Bank deposit box.

During those searches, the FBI found luxury goods including a Rolex Submariner, a Patek Philippe Aquanaut watch, and several Hermes Birkin handbags.

Authorities also found several high-end cars—a 2024 Ferrari Roma, a 2024 Range Rover, a 2022 Mercedes GLB SUV, and an Audi Q5—as well as a deposit box with $130,000 in cash.

FBI agents also testified to finding a number of documents in Chinese or associated with the Chinese regime, including a 1-kilogram friendship coin of solid silver, likely worth more than $1,600 today.

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