Former CIA Officer Pleads Guilty to Spying for China
Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, a 72-year-old former CIA officer and contract linguist for the FBI, pleaded guilty on Friday to charges of spying for China in a federal courtroom in Honolulu. Ma has been in custody since his arrest in August 2020.
The Justice Department amassed substantial evidence against Ma, including an hourlong video from 2001 showing Ma and an older relative, also a former CIA officer, sharing classified information with officers from China’s Ministry of State Security. The video captures Ma counting $50,000 received from Chinese agents for his espionage services.
During a sting operation, Ma accepted thousands of dollars in cash in exchange for his past espionage activities and expressed his desire to see China, the "motherland," succeed, according to prosecutors. The secrets Ma provided included information on CIA sources, international operations, secure communication practices, and operational tradecraft.
As part of a plea agreement, Ma pleaded guilty to conspiracy to gather or deliver national defense information to a foreign government. The agreement proposes a 10-year prison sentence, but the final decision will be made by a judge during Ma’s sentencing on September 11. Without the deal, Ma faced a potential life sentence.
Ma, born in Hong Kong, moved to Honolulu in 1968, and became a U.S. citizen in 1975. He joined the CIA in 1982 and resigned in 1989. He later lived and worked in Shanghai, China, before returning to Hawaii in 2001. In 2004, Ma was hired as a contract linguist for the FBI’s Honolulu field office. Over six years, Ma regularly copied and stole classified documents, which he took on trips to China, receiving thousands of dollars in cash and gifts in return.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson revealed in court that Ma’s role as a part-time contract linguist was a "ruse" to monitor his contact with Chinese intelligence officers. In 2006, Chinese intelligence officers sent Ma photos of individuals they sought to identify, and Ma's co-conspirator relative revealed at least two identities.
Ma admitted in court that he had signed non-disclosure agreements and understood the information he provided could harm the United States. Ma’s former defense attorney previously claimed Ma believed he was suffering from early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, but a judge ruled last year that Ma was competent and not suffering from any major mental disorder. The co-conspirator relative, suffering from Alzheimer’s, was not charged and has since passed away.
