Former CIA Employee Charged with Espionage
Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 67, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer who worked for the agency from 1982-1989, allegedly conspired with his relative, also a former CIA officer, to communicate classified information from the U.S. government to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). He was charged with conspiracy to communicate national defense information to aid a foreign government and faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted.
“The trail of Chinese espionage is long and, sadly, strewn with former American intelligence officers who betrayed their colleagues, their country and its liberal democratic values to support an authoritarian communist regime,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers in a Department of Justice (DOJ) release.
Ma allegedly began communicating classified national defense information to PRC officials in 2001, after he had left the CIA. He and his alleged co-conspirator shared information about the CIA’s operations and personnel. In 2004, Ma joined the FBI as a contract linguist to translate Chinese documents. He allegedly received sums of cash to communicate information to the PRC. He would often go on trips to China and return with large sums of cash and expensive gifts. Ma would allegedly share classified FBI documents during his visits to China.
As reported in the DOJ release, an FBI undercover employee confirmed Ma’s espionage activities during a series of meetings in 2019 in which Ma believed the FBI employee was a representative of the PRC intelligence service. Ma accepted money from the FBI undercover employee, believing it was from the PRC intelligence service.
Alan E. Kohler Jr., Assistant Director of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division said, “This case demonstrates that no matter the length or difficulty of the investigation, the men and women of the FBI will work tirelessly to protect our national security from the threat posed by Chinese intelligence services. Let it be known that anyone who violates a position of trust to betray the United States will face justice, no matter how many years it takes to bring their crimes to light.”
The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Honolulu and Los Angeles Field Offices. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson and Trial Attorneys Scott Claffee and Steve Marzen of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.