A former CIA officer was convicted and sentenced to prison for accepting gifts from China in exchange for top-secret information.
Alexander Yuk Ching Ma was convicted of plotting to transmit sensitive national security data to the People's Republic of China.
On Wednesday, a former CIA officer who received multiple gifts and money in exchange for spying for China was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, a 71-year-old man from Honolulu, was sentenced by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for conspiring to provide national defense information to the People's Republic of China (PRC).
In August 2020, Ma was arrested after confessing to an FBI agent that he gave confidential data to Chinese intelligence agents from the Shanghai State Security Bureau (SSSB).
From 1967 to 1983, Ma's co-conspirator and blood relative worked for the CIA, while Ma worked for the CIA from 1982 until 1989.
The DOJ stated that both men possessed top secret security clearances, allowing them access to sensitive and classified CIA information, and they also signed nondisclosure agreements.
In March 2001, Ma met with SSSB officers and his co-conspirator, as admitted in the plea agreement.
The two men met with SSSB intelligence officers in a Hong Kong hotel room for three days after convincing their partner.
The co-conspirator gave the SSSB a large volume of classified information for $50,000 in cash, and the two men agreed to continue helping the Chinese agency.
Two years after agreeing to assist the Chinese government, Ma applied for a job as a contract linguist for the FBI's Honolulu field office. Despite the FBI's knowledge of Ma's ties with the PRC, they hired him to covertly monitor and investigate his interactions with the SSSB.
From August 2004 to October 2012, Ma allegedly worked part-time for the FBI at an offsite location.
In February 2006, the SSB requested Ma to obtain the co-conspirator's identification of four individuals of interest in photographs. At least two of the individuals were identified.
The DOJ stated that Ma admitted to intentionally and willingly collaborating with his accomplice and the SSSB to transmit information that he knew would be used against the U.S. or aid the PRC.
In court documents, the government stated that Ma was convicted of a long-term conspiracy to commit espionage, with the exchanged documents obtained by the co-conspirator from 1967 to 1983.
Ma must submit to debriefings by U.S. agencies as part of the agreement, which requires him to cooperate with the U.S. for the rest of his life.
In addition to being imprisoned for 10 years, he was also given five years of supervised release.
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