By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-31 20:55:32 | Updated at 2024-11-06 22:34:37
6 days ago
A New York Police Department unit headed by an official linked to the Chinese Communist Party has been quietly reorganized, according to insiders.
After The Post first reported on assistant commissioner Lin Gui’an’s ties in September, members of the Police Commissioner Liaison Unit have all been transferred out of the department, previously located on the third floor of One Police Plaza in Lower Manhattan, according to a source.
The reason for effectively disbanding the team has not been given, but Lin, 49, was a top aide to former police commissioner Edward Caban, who resigned from the force a week after federal agents raided his home in September.
The NYPD pinned the reshuffle on new Commissioner Tom Donlon, even though he is only a caretaker in the role.
“As is customary with any new administration, changes will occur within the Police Commissioner’s Office,” said the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.
“Those changes are being made with a great deal of care and consideration. Interim Police Commissioner Donlon is building a strong team to help lead the NYPD into the future and that work remains ongoing.”
It is not clear if Lin still has a role at the NYPD, attemptsto reach him by The Post were unsuccessful.
Lin also has ties to Winnie Greco, a controversial former Adams aide, who resigned from City Hall earlier this month and has also had her home raided by the FBI.
Lin claims to have arrived in the US from China “on a ship carrying illegal immigrants” and was forced to pay $40,000 to the Chinese mafia, according to a talk he gave in Westchester that was reported by a local newsletter in February 2014.
He worked in hospitality between 2004 and 2018 at Fenway Golf Club. He was also the vice chairman of the Fujian Changle Nanxiang Benevolent Association for 12 years beginning in 1994, a year after he arrived in the US, according to Chinese-language media reports.
Although that company is a nonprofit, its function is not clear. However, it is entangled with a series of groups collectively known as the United Front, who promote Chinese Communist Party interests and propaganda overseas.
They are overseen by the United Front Department, funded and controlled by China’s central government.
Lin is also still close to the group, having been pictured at one of its meetings in January 2023 wearing a jacket bearing a police badge.
Last week, Mayor Eric Adams’ campaign amended their filings to report that Lin collected $250 contributions from 10 fellow police department employees in June and gave them to the mayor’s 2025 reelection campaign, according to a report in Politico last week.
Lin did not donate to the campaign himself but acted as a bundler for the donations, according to the report.
Lin’s association with Greco may also soon come into the spotlight.
Greco is under probe by federal authorities looking for private emails and records of trips she organized to China for Adams when he was Brooklyn borough president, The Post revealed in June.
Insiders told The Post earlier this month Greco’s departure became inevitable as the administration braced for her to be indicted by feds with the Eastern District of New York. The sources said it would be over her dealings with foreign countries while she served in city government and on Adams’ election campaigns.
In September, Adams was hit with a five-count federal indictment which alleged, among other charges, a quid pro quo with Turkey.
