Alexander Yuk Ching Ma
Ma in a 2019 FBI recording, meeting with an undercover agent posing as an MSS officer
Born1952
British Hong Kong
Other names"Alex"
CitizenshipUnited States
EducationThe Farm
Alma materUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Criminal chargeConspiracy to transmit national defense information (18 USC § 793)
Criminal statusCharged, held without bail at Federal Detention Center, Honolulu
BOP Register #12272-122
SpouseAmy Ma
Espionage activity
Allegiance
Agency

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma (born 1952 in British Hong Kong) is an American former CIA clandestine officer accused of acting as a double agent on behalf of the People's Republic of China, gaining employment with the FBI in order to act as a mole. He was arrested in August 2020, charged under the Espionage Act with conspiring along with his brother, also a former CIA officer, to pass classified information to officials of the Chinese Ministry of State Security. His trial is scheduled for 2024.

Early life and CIA career

Born in British Hong Kong in 1952, Ma and his older brother, David, born in nationalist Chinese Shanghai in 1936, moved to Honolulu, Hawaii in 1968 and became US citizens, attending the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Following graduation, David joined the CIA as a clandestine officer assigned to the Far East at the height of the Vietnam war.

In 1983, David Ma resigned from the CIA after an investigation found he inappropriately used his position to assist Chinese nationals obtain entry into the United States. Within the same year, then 30-year old Alex joined the agency, also as a clandestine officer. Following training at The Farm, the younger Ma was also sent to the Far East.[1]

In 1989, Alex Ma abruptly left the agency, and around 1995 he moved to Shanghai.[1]

Espionage for China

Ma's alleged spying for China is believed to have begun in March 2001, with a three-day debriefing in a Hong Kong hotel by officers of the Shanghai State Security Bureau (SSSB), the city's aggressive subsidiary of China's Ministry of State Security (MSS).[1] During the meeting, which was partly videotaped, Ma and his brother David are alleged to have provided information about the CIA personnel, operations, and covert communications techniques, in exchange for $50,000 in cash.[2][1]

After Ma moved back to Hawaii in 2002, he sought employment with the FBI with the intent to regain access to classified information in order to provide it to the MSS. Though he applied for a position as a special agent, at age 49 he was over the age limit, instead he was hired by the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office as a linguist tasked with translating Chinese language documents. During his hiring by the FBI in 2004, he is alleged to have passed a polygraph examination which asked questions regarding foreign contacts and personal loyalties.[3] The day before starting his new job with the FBI, Ma called a suspected accomplice to inform them he would now be working full-time for "the other side."

Over the following six years with the FBI, Ma regularly copied, photographed and stole classified documents, bringing many of them with him on frequent trips to China with the intent to provide them to his handlers. Customs declarations indicated that Ma often returned from China with thousands of dollars in cash and expensive gifts, such as a new set of golf clubs.[2][1]

David Ma is believed to have continued to maintain contact with the MSS, staying in contact with Alex and MSS handlers while he embedded himself in the Chinese immigrant community in Los Angeles.[1]

In one instance, Alex's wife Amy Ma, also born in Hong Kong, was used as a courier, flying to Shanghai and delivering an encrypted laptop computer to handlers from the SSSB.[1]

Investigation and arrest

In January 2019, Ma confirmed to an undercover FBI agent that he had in the past provided valuable U.S. government materials to the Chinese government, and that he would be willing to do so in the future. On March 13, 2019, Ma accepted $2,000 from the same undercover FBI agent, who told Ma that the money was acknowledgment for his work on behalf of China. On August 12, 2020, Ma accepted another $2,000 from the undercover FBI agent, expressed his willingness to continue to help the Chinese government, and stated that he wanted "the motherland" to succeed.[2][4]

On August 14, 2020, Ma was arrested on charges of conspiracy.[2][4] The Justice Department identified Ma's older brother, David, as an unindicted co-conspirator to the crimes, but deemed him unfit to stand trial due to his advanced neurological decline from an Alzheimer’s diagnosis ten years prior.[5] In 2021, Alexander Ma claimed to be having memory problems and asked for a mental competency evaluation.[6][7] In February 2023, he was deemed competent, his case is scheduled to go to trial in 2024.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bamford, James (January 17, 2023). "How China planted an FBI mole who was discovered only after gutting the CIA's vast spy network". Business Insider. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Former CIA Officer Arrested and Charged with Espionage". United States Department of Justice (Press release). Office of Public Affairs. August 17, 2020. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Accused Spy Alexander Yuk Ching Ma Evidently Beat the Polygraph to Penetrate the FBI". AntiPolygraph.org News. August 18, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  4. 1 2 Mordock, Jeff (August 17, 2020). "Former CIA officer charged with spying, selling defense secrets to China". The Washington Times. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  5. ↑ Williams, Pete (August 17, 2020). "Former CIA officer charged with spying for China". NBC News. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  6. ↑ Kelleher, Jennifer (October 29, 2020). "Judge: Ex-CIA officer spy case too complex for speedy trial". Associated Press. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  7. ↑ Kelleher, Jennifer (July 30, 2021). "Ex-CIA officer accused of spying for China has memory issues". Associated Press. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  8. ↑ Boylan, Peter (February 17, 2023). "Alleged spy for China to stand trial in 2024". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
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