The former officer received cash, golf clubs, and other expensive gifts for turning over classified U.S. national defense information to Chinese agents.
A former CIA officer who provided “a large volume” of classified U.S. national defense information to China was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Sept. 11.
Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 71, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Hong Kong, was
arrested in August 2020.
In May, he
pleaded guilty to conspiring to gather and deliver national defense information to China, in exchange for a 10-year sentence.
On Sept. 11, Chief U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson imposed the agreed-upon sentence in Honolulu.
“Despite his sworn oath to protect U.S. classified secrets from illegal disclosure, Alexander Ma chose to betray his oath for money while aiding the People’s Republic of China,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii Clare E. Connors said in a
statement issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“Bringing Alexander Ma to justice, even after the passage of many years, affirms our commitment to holding accountable those who violate our nation’s trust and security.”
Ma moved to Honolulu in 1968 and became a U.S. citizen in 1975. He then worked for the CIA from 1982 until 1989. His older brother, identified in the plea agreement as “co-conspirator #1,” worked for the CIA from 1967 to 1983. According to the DOJ, both men held a top-secret security clearance during their respective tenures at the agency, granting them access to “sensitive and classified CIA information,” with both signing nondisclosure agreements.
After leaving the CIA, Ma lived and worked in Shanghai before returning to Hawaii in 2001. According to
court documents, Ma became a “compromised asset” of the Chinese Ministry of State Security, the country’s top intelligence agency, “at least by early 2001.”
At the request of Chinese intelligence officers, Ma agreed to arrange a three-day meeting between officers of the Shanghai State Security Bureau (SSSB) and his older brother in a Hong Kong hotel room in 2001.
Ma’s brother turned over “a large volume of classified U.S. national defense information” at the meeting, according to the DOJ statement. In return, the brothers were paid $50,000 and agreed to continue to assist the SSSB.
According to
court documents, the defense information included the identities of CIA officers, methods of secure communication, international operations, staffing practices, and the agency’s internal structure and operational tradecraft.
In 2003, Ma applied for a job as a contract linguist for the FBI’s field office in Honolulu. The FBI, which had become aware of Ma’s ties to Chinese intelligence, enlisted him in order to covertly track his activities and contacts with the SSSB. He began working part time at an offsite location for the FBI in August 2004.
Over the next six years at the FBI, Ma regularly
copied, photographed, and stole classified U.S. documents, including research on guided missiles and weapons systems, according to prosecutors. He often took these stolen documents on trips to China, returning with thousands of dollars in cash and expensive gifts, including a new set of golf clubs.
His job at the FBI ended in October 2012.
“I hope God and America will forgive me for what I have done,” Ma wrote in a letter to the judge ahead of his sentencing.
“Because of my brother, I could not bring myself to report this crime. He was like a father figure to me. In a way, I am also glad that he left this world, as that made me free to admit what I did.”
Ma’s brother was never prosecuted. According to court documents, Ma’s brother suffered from debilitating symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and is now deceased.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Ma must cooperate with the U.S. government for the rest of his life, including submitting to polygraph tests.
“This sentence demonstrates the dedication of the United States to protect itself from this type of betrayal and violation of trust,” FBI Honolulu Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill said in a
statement.
Other Chinese Espionage Cases
The DOJ has cracked down on several cases of Chinese espionage in recent years.
In November 2019, Jerry Chun Shing Lee, a former CIA case officer, was
sentenced to 19 years in prison for an espionage conspiracy with China. Prosecutors said Chinese intelligence officers gave Lee more than $840,000.
Ron Rockwell Hansen, a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer, was
sentenced to 10 years in September 2019 for attempted espionage on behalf of China. According to the DOJ, Hansen received hundreds of thousands of dollars from China.
In May 2019, Kevin Patrick Mallory, a former CIA officer, was
sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to transmit U.S. defense information to a Chinese agent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
