A former CIA officer, Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for espionage. Ma, 71, was found guilty of conspiring to provide classified information to Chinese intelligence officials. The court in Honolulu concluded that the former officer engaged in the illegal exchange of sensitive materials in lieu of financial compensation.
According to Ma’s plea agreement, he and a relative, who also had a history with the CIA, orchestrated meetings in Hong Kong with Chinese security officers. These meetings resulted in the transfer of classified documents in return for $50,000. Ma had entered a guilty plea in May.
Subsequent to his plea, Ma became the subject of an undercover operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He had applied for a position as a linguist at the FBI’s Honolulu field office. The FBI, aware of Ma’s connections to Chinese intelligence, employed him at an off-site location to facilitate monitoring.
The Department of Justice disclosed that Ma, while under FBI scrutiny, attempted to photograph sensitive documents using a digital camera with the intent to pass the information to his Chinese handlers. This act was closely tracked by FBI agents.
Additionally, the plea agreement mandates Ma to cooperate with U.S. authorities throughout his life. This cooperation includes participating in debriefings by U.S. government agencies, a condition to which he has already shown compliance during several interviews.
The sentencing marks the latest development in a series of high-profile investigations, arrests, and trials involving Chinese espionage plots in the United States. The National Pulse reported earlier this month that a top aide to New York Democrat governors Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul was arrested on suspicion of acting as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of China.
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