Linda Sun, a former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, who was previously charged with working as an unregistered agent of China, was accused of participating in a scheme to unlawfully obtain state contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sun, who served as Cuomo's deputy chief diversity officer and later as Hochul's deputy chief of staff, and her husband, Chris Hu, are accused of helping to push about $35 million in state contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE) to vendors that were run by her husband and her second cousin, according to a superseding indictment filed this week.

The indictment states that at the onset of the pandemic, the Cuomo administration moved to buy PPE from China to alleviate shortages in New York. Sun, who worked to coordinate the deal, added a company run by her husband and another run by her second cousin to a list of vendors recommended by the Chinese government.

According to prosecutors, Sun later claimed that these vendors were recommended by the Chinese government and allegedly altered an email from a Chinese province official to add the surgical mask business run by her second cousin, which she then sent to state procurement officials.

Sun and her husband allegedly received more than $2 million for their work to steer the contracts to her family members.

"When masks, gloves and other protective supplies were hard to find, Sun abused her position of trust to steer contracts to her associates so that she and her husband could share in the profits," U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said in a statement on Thursday. "We demand better from our public servants, and this office will continue to hold accountable public officials who enrich themselves at the expense of the New York taxpayers."