Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 71, of Honolulu, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for conspiring to gather and deliver national defense information to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Ma was arrested in August 2020 after admitting to an undercover FBI employee that he had facilitated the provision of classified information to intelligence officers employed by the PRC’s Shanghai State Security Bureau (SSSB).
According to court documents, Ma worked for the CIA from 1982 until 1989. His blood relative, identified as co-conspirator #1 (CC #1) in court documents and now deceased, also worked for the CIA from 1967 until 1983. Both men held Top Secret security clearances and signed nondisclosure agreements.
In his plea agreement, Ma admitted that in March 2001, over a decade after he resigned from the CIA, he was contacted by SSSB intelligence officers who asked him to arrange a meeting between CC #1 and the SSSB. Ma convinced CC #1 to agree, and both met with SSSB intelligence officers in a Hong Kong hotel room for three days. During these meetings, CC #1 provided a large volume of classified U.S. national defense information in return for $50,000 in cash. Both agreed to continue assisting the SSSB.
In March 2003, while living in Hawaii, Ma applied for a job as a contract linguist at the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office. The FBI hired Ma as part of a ruse to monitor his activities and contacts with the SSSB. He worked part-time at an offsite location for the FBI from August 2004 until October 2012.
As detailed in the plea agreement, in February 2006, Ma was tasked by the SSSB with asking CC #1 to identify four individuals of interest from photographs. Ma convinced CC #1 to provide at least two identities that were classified U.S. national defense information.
Ma confessed that he knowingly conspired with CC #1 and SSSB intelligence officers to communicate information intended to injure the United States or advantage the PRC.
At today’s sentencing hearing, government counsel noted that Ma's conspiracy was a serious breach of national security causing substantial investigative resources expenditure. The government highlighted that Ma facilitated exchanging classified CIA information obtained by CC #1 between 1967 and 1983.
Under his plea agreement terms, Ma must cooperate with U.S. authorities indefinitely, including submitting to debriefings by government agencies. Government counsel stated that Ma has been cooperative and participated in multiple interview sessions with agents.
Ma has been sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division; U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors for the District of Hawaii; and Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI's National Security Branch made this announcement.
The FBI’s Honolulu and Los Angeles Field Offices investigated this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ken Sorenson and Craig Nolan for the District of Hawaii; Trial Attorneys Scott Claffee; and Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted it.
###