The US Department of Justice has filed charges against a former top adviser to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, accusing him of conducting illegal “political activities” on behalf of the Chinese government.

The employee in question, 41-year-old Linda Sun, was appointed Hochul’s deputy chief of staff in 2021 and previously worked under Hochul’s predecessor, Governor Andrew Cuomo.

But in an indictment released Tuesday, federal prosecutors accused Sun and her 40-year-old husband, Christopher Hu, of exploiting their positions to benefit the Chinese government and profit from the stock market.

“Linda Sun, a former New York State government employee, acted as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government while her husband, Christopher Hu, facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars in bribes for personal gain,” said Christie Curtis, deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in a press release.

The indictment is the latest in a series of actions by the Justice Department to counter what it sees as “national security threats” posed by China.

Sun and Hu were both arrested Tuesday morning and appeared in federal court in Brooklyn for arraignment later that afternoon.

The indictment accused Sun of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, failing to register as an agent for China and “actively concealing” her relationship with the Chinese government.

The document also alleged that she had committed visa fraud, human smuggling and was involved in a money laundering conspiracy.

Hu, meanwhile, was charged with conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and using the identity of a family member to open new bank accounts.

In the indictment, federal prosecutors detailed that they believed the couple laundered “millions of dollars” for China and received bribes to purchase “luxury cars and million-dollar properties” in New York.

They include a $4.1 million estate in Manhasset, New York, and a $2.1 million condo in Honolulu, Hawaii. Prosecutors also say the benefits will allow Sun and Hu to purchase a 2024 Ferrari luxury car.

They also accused Sun of offering Chinese officials letters of invitation to travel to the United States and arranging meetings with leading politicians in New York State.

According to the indictment, she even delivered “official proclamations of the State of New York” to some Chinese government officials without first obtaining proper authorization.

This contradicts her dealings with Taiwanese officials, the indictment says. It accuses her of preventing representatives of the Taiwanese government from meeting with New York officials.

The government in Beijing has long denied Taiwan’s sovereignty claims as part of its “One China Policy.” Instead, it insists that the self-governing island is an integral part of China and subject to the authority of its government.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace stated in a press release that “the defendant’s family earned several million dollars through the illegal scheme.”

“While they presented themselves as serving the people of New York as Deputy Chief of Staff of the New York State Executive Committee, the defendant and her husband were in fact working to advance the interests of the Chinese government,” Peace said.

The US Department of Justice has been cracking down on alleged interference by the Chinese government for months.

Less than two weeks ago, on August 22, it also filed charges against a New Yorker who allegedly took part in the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square, a major flashpoint for the democracy movement in China.

The Justice Department accused this person of acting as an agent for the Chinese Ministry of State Security.

And last year, federal prosecutors filed charges against two men accused of running a “secret police station” in New York City. The Chinese government has denied such allegations of foreign espionage.

Sun, for her part, left the New York governor’s office in 2022.