Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, a former CIA officer, has been sentenced to a decade in prison for espionage on behalf of the Chinese government. Ma, 71, was apprehended in August 2020 after confessing to an undercover FBI agent that he had sold classified U.S. information to China.
Ma, who was born in Hong Kong and became a U.S. citizen, served with the CIA from 1982 to 1989 before joining the FBI later in his career. As part of his plea agreement, Ma is required to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors for the remainder of his life. This cooperation includes submitting to debriefings by U.S. government agencies and undergoing polygraph tests, as reported by the Associated Press.
During a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, federal prosecutors indicated that Ma has been cooperative, participating in several interviews with government agents. Officials revealed that Ma, in collaboration with a relative—who was also a CIA agent—transferred classified information to operatives of the Shanghai State Security Bureau. Evidence presented in court included a video recording of a meeting in Hong Kong where Ma was seen counting $50,000 in cash exchanged for the stolen secrets.
In 2004, Ma, while residing in Hawaii, took a position at the FBI’s Honolulu office as a contract linguist. The FBI, aware of his espionage activities, hired him as part of a strategy to monitor and investigate his operations and connections, according to prosecutors. The collaborator involved in the espionage was Ma’s brother, who passed away before he could be prosecuted.
At the court in Hawaii, Ma was sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. FBI Honolulu Special Agent-in-Charge Steven Merrill emphasized the message this case sends to potential offenders: “No matter how long it takes or how much time passes, you will be brought to justice.”