A former CIA officer, Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying for the Chinese government.
Ma, 71, was arrested in August 2020 after admitting to an undercover FBI agent that he had sold US secrets to China.
Born in Hong Kong and a naturalized US citizen, Ma worked for the CIA between 1982 and 1989 before later joining the FBI.
As part of his plea deal, Ma must cooperate with US authorities “for the rest of his life,” which includes undergoing polygraph tests and participating in debriefings with government agencies.
At a sentencing hearing in Hawaii on Wednesday, prosecutors confirmed that Ma has already taken part in several interviews with federal agents.
According to officials, Ma and a relative, who also worked for the CIA, collaborated to share sensitive information with Chinese intelligence officers from the Shanghai State Security Bureau. In one instance, prosecutors revealed that Ma was recorded on video counting $50,000 in cash for the secrets they provided.
After moving to Hawaii in 2004, Ma took a contract position as a linguist at the FBI’s Honolulu office. However, federal authorities had already been monitoring him. The FBI later confirmed that Ma was hired as part of a sting operation designed to gather more evidence on his espionage activities.
The collaborator, believed to be Ma’s brother, passed away before he could be prosecuted. In addition to the 10-year prison sentence, Ma will face five years of supervised release.
FBI Honolulu Special Agent-in-Charge Steven Merrill issued a stern warning in a statement, saying, “Let it be a message to anyone else thinking of doing the same. No matter how long it takes, you will be brought to justice.”
Chioma Kalu
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