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Ex-CIA officer jailed for 10 years after spying for China

September 12, 2024

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma was convicted of passing "a large volume" of classified defense information to Chinese spies in 2001. He later worked for the FBI.

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Ma was convicted of trading classified information for $50,000Image: Olivier Douliery/Sipa USA/picture alliance

Former CIA Officer Alexander Yuk Ching Ma was sentenced to ten years in prison on Wednesday. The 71-year-old had been convicted in May of spying for China.

The sentence was the result of a plea agreement, the US Justice Department said. The defendant avoided a lengthier sentence by admitting to his role in passing classified information to the Shanghai State Security Bureau (SSSB).

Ma worked for the CIA from 1982 to 1989. He was accused of conspiring with a relative, who had also worked for the agency, to deliver "a large volume" of national defense information to Chinese spies in exchange for $50,000 in 2001.

Hired by the FBI

Two years later, Ma applied for a job as a linguist at an FBI field office in Hawaii.

"The FBI, aware of Ma's ties to (Chinese) intelligence, hired Ma as part of a ruse to monitor and investigate his activities and contacts with the SSSB," the Justice Department said, adding that he worked part-time for the FBI between 2004 and 2012.

The Hong Kong-born US citizen was first arrested in August 2020.

es/kb (AFP, Reuters)