• Wion
  • /World
  • /Former CIA officer accused of spying for China pleads guilty - World News

Former CIA officer accused of spying for China pleads guilty

Former CIA officer accused of spying for China pleads guilty

File photo of Alexander Yuk Ching Ma.

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, a former officer in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) accused of spying for China, pleaded guilty on Friday (May 24) in a federal courtroom inHonolulu.Ma, 72, also worked as acontract linguist for theFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).He hasbeen accusedof spying for China for almost a decade, a report by the news agency Associated Press said.

In a court filing, the US Justice Department said it amassed “a war chest of damning evidence” against him.The evidence includedanhourlongvideo of Ma and an older relative— also aformer CIA officer— providingclassified information to intelligence officers with China’s Ministry of State Security in 2001.

Prosecutors saidthat thevideo showed Macounting the $50,000 received from the Chinese agents for his service. He was arrested for this crime in August 2020 and has been in custody since then.

A naturalisedUScitizen born in Hong Kong

According to the Justice Department, Ma is a naturalised American citizen born in Hong Kong. "According to court documents, Ma began working for the CIA in 1982, maintained a Top Secret clearance, and signed numerous non-disclosure agreements in which he acknowledged his responsibility and ongoing duty to protectU.S.government secrets during his tenure at CIA," the department said.

"Ma left the CIA in 1989 and lived and worked in Shanghai, Chinabeforearriving in Hawaii in 2001," it added.

Prosecutors said that during a sting operation, the 72-year-oldaccepted thousands of dollars in cash in exchange for past espionage activities, and he told an undercover FBI agent posing as a Chinese intelligence officer that he wanted to see the “motherland” succeed.

Ma's sentencing scheduled for September 11

As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Ma pleaded guilty toa count ofconspiracy to gather or deliver national defence information to a foreign government.The deal calls for a 10-year sentence, but a judge will have the final say at Ma’s sentencing scheduled for September 11.

Without the deal, he faced life in prison.

(With inputs from agencies)