Former top state aide Linda Sun lived large in a Long Island mansion with a Ferrari parked in the garage and Birkin handbag in her closet — all thanks to her alleged secret gig as a Chinese foreign agent, a court heard this week.
Sun, who served under Gov. Kathy Hochul and her predecessor Andrew Cuomo — with a salary that never exceeded $145,000 per year during a decade-plus stint in Albany — could only afford the luxuries by cashing in on her lofty position to advance China’s agenda, federal prosecutors allege.
Photos of the spoils from the purportedly crooked plot made public on Tuesday were shown to jurors in Brooklyn federal court during Sun’s ongoing bombshell corruption trial.
Former Hochul and Cuomo administration aide Linda Sun arriving at Brooklyn Federal Court on Nov. 17, 2025. Michael Nigro
A Hermes Birkin handbag seized from Sun’s Long Island home. RRoth
Prosecutors claimed that Sun’s Birkin bag and other extravagant possessions came through being a secret Chinese foreign agent. RRoth
The jury got a glimpse of the loot, including a snazzy brown Hermes Birkin bag seized from Sun’s walk-in closet in the $3.6 million Manhasset manse, and a Patek Philippe watch with a receipt showing it was bought by Sun’s husband and now co-defendant Chris Hu.
Federal agents testified Monday about recovering the gaudy goods, which also included a 2024 Ferrari Roma and 2022 Mercedes GLB SUV, plus $130,000 in cash from a Queens safety deposit box.
“There was a bar area, there was a golf simulator,” FBI Special Agent Edward Tam said of what the feds found inside the basement of the couple’s home, according to Courthouse News.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District claims the cash and goods were all tied to the alleged scheme, pointing to Sun’s modest salary and the fact that her hubby reported only a modest income from his lobster export business.
Sun’s $3.6 million house in Manhasset. Dennis A. Clark
A 2024 Ferrari Roma parked in Sun’s garage. Eastern District of New York
Sun also owned a 2022 Mercedes GLB SUV. Eastern District of New York
The FBI also seized a 2018 letter sent to Sun from the Chinese consulate office in New York which read in part: “Your personal friendship and kind support will always be cherished,” jurors heard.
The feds separately searched Sun’s elderly parents’ home in Flushing, where according to trial testimony they discovered the embattled ex-Albany aide’s dad wearing a silver Rolex, Courthouse News reported.
Sun’s mother, Mei Ping Sun, took the stand begrudgingly Tuesday after receiving an immunity deal from the feds — plus a subpoena ordering her to testify — and told jurors that her ex-husband was sporting the flashy timepiece despite not being able to afford his own apartment.
Sun’s mother, Mei Ping Sun, leaving Brooklyn Federal Court to testify in her daughter’s trial on Nov. 18, 2025. Michael Nagle
“Because he has no money to rent a place,” Mei Ping told jurors, explaining why she was still living with Sun’s father at the time of the 2024 raid, despite the two getting divorced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mei Ping also provided jurors with details about an account at Signature Bank that her daughter and son-in-law had opened in her name, and which she testified she had no involvement with.
Under questioning from Hu’s defense lawyer Nicole Boeckmann, Mei Ping, gripping the microphone tightly with her right hand and using a Mandarin interpreter, claimed that the account was to be used to buy a house for her.
A Patek Philippe watch and a receipt showing it was purchased by Sun’s husband Chris Hu. Roth, Rebecca (USANYE) [Contractor]
A Range Rover seen parked at Sun’s house.
But she admitted that she mentioned nothing about the house when questioned by the FBI, and that the home was never purchased, because “I didn’t like it.”
Sun is accused of abusing her position as a deputy chief of staff in the executive chamber under Hochul and director of Asian-American affairs under Cuomo to do a slew of favors for China like swaying the governors not to meet with officials from the communist nation’s rival Taiwan.
Sun’s alleged handlers in Beijing meanwhile showered her family with gaudy gifts like salted duck prepared in the style of her mom Mei Ping’s hometown of Nanjing, and steered millions of dollars to Hu’s seafood business in China, the feds claim.
A 2018 letter from the Chinese consulate office in New York thanking Sun for her “personal friendship and kind support.”
Sun pictured with Chinese dignitaries. Brooklyn Federal Court
Sun and Hu have pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, fraud and money laundering, while Sun has denied a charge of failing to register as a foreign agent of China.
The trial is expected to last until mid-December.