Former CIA agent Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 71, has pleaded guilty to charges of espionage on behalf of China, as announced by the US Department of Justice.
Ma, a naturalized US citizen originally from Hong Kong, admitted to providing extensive classified US national defense information to Chinese authorities in 2001, despite having left the CIA 12 years earlier.
The Justice Department revealed that Ma’s espionage activities were initiated by another former CIA agent, identified as his blood relative and referred to as “co-conspirator #1.” This individual, born in Shanghai and also a naturalized American, facilitated Ma’s meeting with representatives of the Shanghai State Security Bureau in Hong Kong.
During this meeting, which spanned three days, Chinese intelligence officers handed co-conspirator #1 $50,000 in cash, with Ma counting the money. Both Ma and his relative agreed to continue assisting Chinese intelligence thereafter. In 2003, Ma secured a position with the FBI in Hawaii, ostensibly as part of an investigative operation to monitor his activities and probe his contacts with China.
In 2006, Ma convinced co-conspirator #1 to disclose the identities of two individuals in photographs provided by Chinese intelligence. Ma confessed that the information he shared, including the data given in 2001, was intended to harm the United States and benefit Chinese authorities.
Ma’s employment with the FBI lasted until 2012, though the exact circumstances of his eventual unmasking remain unclear. If the guilty plea agreement is accepted by the courts, Ma will cooperate with US authorities and face a 10-year prison sentence, potentially to be imposed on September 11.
