Former deputy chief of staff to the New York Governor, Linda Sun, and her husband Chris Hu were indicted for involvement in foreign agents, bribery, and money laundering. The case entered its fifth day of trial on November 19.
The focus of the day was on two main aspects: why the bank did not detect the unusual setup of the joint account under the names of the mother-in-law and son-in-law, and how the family account became a tool for fund transfers; and whether the New York state PPE procurement during the pandemic was related to the Sun family business.
Manager of Signature Bank, Yang Jie, explained that the bank prohibits opening accounts for others because discrepancies between the “nominal account holders” and the “actual controllers” are considered typical red flags for risk. He agreed to open the account thinking that Chris Hu was helping his mother-in-law who did not speak English and needed assistance; he was unaware that the account owner was actually Hu’s mother-in-law.
Chris Hu first opened a business account for Golden Capital, claiming to be involved in investments and real estate. He then requested to open a personal account for his mother-in-law, Sun Meiping, but wanted to “control the account” himself, even inquiring whether he could keep his name off the account. Yang advised him that the bank does not encourage Power of Attorney and suggested opening a joint account, making Chris Hu an official joint account holder.
However, all contact information for the account was under Chris’s name, meaning all bank inquiries and confirmations were handled by Chris instead of the elderly account holder listed on paper.
Prosecutors tried to establish a money laundering chain used by Linda Sun and Chris Hu to hide and transfer funds through family member accounts.
Based on Yang’s testimony, in 2022, $1.5 million from Linda Sun’s cousin Henry Hua’s company, Canstar, was transferred to Sun Meiping’s personal account, prompting inquiries from the bank’s compliance department to explain the purpose of the transfer.
Chris told the bank that the $1.5 million was a “profit share” or “sales commission” for Sun Meiping from Canstar; his 70-year-old mother-in-law was a “sales representative” for Canstar; and the money would be used for “business investments or real estate.” The bank accepted this explanation, but the funds were then transferred to Chris Hu’s Golden Capital.
When Chris requested the bank to transfer over $1.6 million from Sun Meiping’s personal account to Golden Capital using a “forged” Sun Meiping email account, the bank informed that they would call to confirm Sun Meiping’s consent in three days.
In a tape played in court, Yang and bank customer service representative Janet Bal called Chris’s phone number. Yang asked, “Is Sun Meiping on the phone? Please provide the full name for verification.” A female voice on the phone answered “Sun Meiping” and confirmed the wire transfer. Sun Meiping later confirmed in court that the voice was that of her daughter – Linda Sun.
Prosecutors emphasized that the account control was not with the elderly woman but with Linda Sun and Chris Hu.
Prosecutors then presented how funds flowed from the family account to a “high-priced property in Hawaii” after Chris gained control of his mother-in-law’s account seven months later.
In January 2021, Chris established HC Paradise LLC, with the company address being the high-rise beachfront condo in Honolulu on the 47th floor that he intended to buy; his father, Hu Guoquan, was listed as the “registered agent.” Likewise, his father was merely a frontman; Chris later requested the bank to change the mailing address to his residence in Forest Hills so that he could receive all related documents himself.
Just days after the company registration, he signed a purchase contract for approximately $1.88 million and completed the transaction by paying $1.78 million in April through funds transferred from Golden Capital, as informed to the bank by Chris.
The prosecution argued that this process illustrates how funds moved from “family accounts” to “Chris Hu controlled accounts” to “real estate,” a typical money laundering chain.
The trial also touched on the emergency procurement process in New York during the pandemic and whether it indirectly benefited Linda Sun’s family business in China.
Former assistant director of finance management at the New York State Department of Health, Mary Hefner, and former chief procurement officer at the New York State General Services Office, Sean Carroll, testified that the review process was significantly expedited after the outbreak, with many documents undergoing minimal checks. Linda Sun was actively involved in contacting Chinese suppliers, verifying information, and translating business licenses during this period.
Testimony revealed that in April 2020, New York State purchased 5 million masks (worth $2.95 million) and 1.6 million medical masks (worth $1.2 million) from China’s High Hope International Group and JCD Corporation respectively. Linda Sun’s cousin, Henry Hua of Constar, had longstanding collaborations with these companies.
Prosecutors did not charge these contracts as illegal but attempted to show through this background information that Linda Sun had influence in the procurement process and that her family business and the supply chain had intersections, laying out the context for subsequent proceedings.