Sun Wen and Hu Xiao were arrested for using PPE contracts to collect millions of kickbacks during the pandemic
Federal prosecutors recently filed additional charges against former New York State government official Sun Wen and her husband Hu Xiao, accusing them of using the opportunity of the New York State government to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to privately transfer contracts to companies with which they had personal connections and receive kickbacks of millions of yuan. Sun Wen and Hu Xiao were charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery and other crimes, and Hu Xiao was also charged with tax evasion.
According to the additional indictment released by federal prosecutors on the 26th, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sun Wen allegedly used her influence in the Chinese government to coordinate with relevant New York State government personnel to purchase personal protective equipment from Chinese suppliers.
In addition to some suppliers introduced by the Chinese government, Sun Wen also introduced two suppliers that were not recommended by the Chinese government, and falsely claimed that the two companies were recommended by government departments. In fact, Company A was run by a cousin of Sun Wen, and Company B was run by Hu Xiao and his business partners. Under Sun’s coordination, the two companies signed multiple personal protective equipment contracts with the New York State government, worth millions of yuan. Sun Wen did not disclose to the state government her and Hu Xiao’s relationship with the two companies, nor did she disclose that they received part of the profits.
The indictment stated that in order to conceal her relationship with Company A from the New York State government procurement department, Sun Wen allegedly forged a document falsely claiming that the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Commerce had recommended Company A. Company A paid Sun and Hu a total of approximately 2.3 million yuan between 2020 and 2021. These kickbacks should have been pre-tax income, but Hu did not report these incomes. In order to launder money, Hu asked Company A to divide 1.5 million yuan into three parts, each of 500,000 yuan, and deposit them into an American bank account he opened in the name of a close relative.
The indictment stated that Sun Wen also arranged to list Company B as a supplier to the New York State government. Sun Wen had a list of state government personal protective equipment suppliers on her computer. In the column “Why do we do business with this company” about Company B, Sun Wen filled in “Company B is recommended by the Ministry of Commerce of China”, but in fact the Ministry of Commerce of China did not have this recommendation.
According to a form found in one of Hu Xiao’s electronic accounts, Hu expected to receive a total profit of 8,029,741 yuan from contracts signed between Company A and Company B and the New York State Department of Health.
In September 2024, Sun Wen was charged with illegal foreign agent, visa fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bringing in foreigners and money laundering; Hu Xiao was charged with bank fraud and abuse of identity; in the first additional indictment released in February 2025, Sun Wen and Hu Xiao were charged with new money laundering charges.
Joseph Nocella, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said that Sun Wen not only illegally acted as a foreign agent, but also earned millions of yuan for herself at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and when New York State was most vulnerable. When masks, gloves and other protective equipment were scarce, Sun Wen abused her position to transfer contracts to people she knew, allowing her and her husband to profit.
Sun Wen is currently released on a $1.5 million bond, and Hu Xiao is released on a $500,000 bond. The trial of Sun Wen and Hu Xiao is scheduled to begin on July 28.
