Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, a 71-year-old former CIA officer from Honolulu, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to deliver national defense information to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Ma admitted to working with a co-conspirator (identified as CC #1), who is also a former CIA officer and a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Hong Kong. Both men held top secret security clearances during their tenure with the CIA, Ma from 1982 to 1989, and CC #1 from 1967 to 1983.
In March 2001, Ma and CC #1 met with intelligence officers from the PRC’s Shanghai State Security Bureau (SSSB) in a Hong Kong hotel room. Over three days, they provided a large volume of classified information in exchange for $50,000. Ma and CC #1 agreed to continue assisting the SSSB.
In March 2003, Ma applied for a job with the FBI in Honolulu. The FBI, aware of his ties to PRC intelligence, hired him as part of an investigative plan to monitor his activities. From 2004 to 2012, Ma worked for the FBI, during which time he convinced CC #1 to identify individuals in classified photographs provided by SSSB officers. Ma knew this information would harm the United States and benefit the PRC.
Under the plea agreement, Ma will cooperate with U.S. government debriefings and is expected to receive a 10-year prison sentence. Sentencing is scheduled for September 11. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Honolulu and Los Angeles Field Offices, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ken Sorenson and Craig Nolan, and Trial Attorneys Scott Claffee and Leslie Esbrook.
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