Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, a former CIA officer and FBI contract linguist, has pleaded guilty to espionage charges in a federal courtroom in Honolulu. The 72-year-old admitted to spying for China over a decade, following his 2020 arrest after a comprehensive investigation by the U.S. Justice Department. The evidence against him included a 2001 video showing Ma providing classified information to officers from China's Ministry of State Security and receiving $50,000 in exchange. Ma's espionage activities continued for years, wherein he accepted significant sums of money and lavish gifts in return for stolen U.S. intelligence. As part of a plea agreement, Ma has consented to a 10-year prison sentence, a substantial reduction from the potential life sentence he faced.
Ma was born in Hong Kong and relocated to Honolulu in 1968, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1975. He began his career with the CIA in 1982 and later worked in Shanghai, China. His employment as a part-time contract linguist was strategically planned as a surveillance measure to monitor his interactions with Chinese intelligence officers. In 2006, Ma received photographs from Chinese intelligence officers of individuals they were targeting and persuaded a relative, also implicated as a co-conspirator, to disclose at least two of these identities.
Ma's actions not only jeopardized national security but also betrayed the trust placed in him by the United States. His sentencing is scheduled for September 11, where the final judgment will be passed by a judge.
Ma was born in Hong Kong and relocated to Honolulu in 1968, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1975. He began his career with the CIA in 1982 and later worked in Shanghai, China. His employment as a part-time contract linguist was strategically planned as a surveillance measure to monitor his interactions with Chinese intelligence officers. In 2006, Ma received photographs from Chinese intelligence officers of individuals they were targeting and persuaded a relative, also implicated as a co-conspirator, to disclose at least two of these identities.
Ma's actions not only jeopardized national security but also betrayed the trust placed in him by the United States. His sentencing is scheduled for September 11, where the final judgment will be passed by a judge.
