Former CIA member, Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, has been arrested on suspicion of leaking classified US information to China. He is said to have received tens of thousands of dollars as a ‘thank you’ from Chinese intelligence.
Monday (08/17), the U.S. Department of Justice indicted a former member of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, cia as a Chinese spy. Defendant Alexander Yuk Ching Ma is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He was born in Hong Kong and worked for the CIA for seven years, from 1982 to 1989.
The 67-year-old man was arrested on Friday (14/08) last week, when a CIA member posed as Chinese intelligence and claimed to want to meet with Ma. Prosecutors accused him of being a traitor to the state for leaking classified U.S. information to five Chinese intelligence agents at a hotel in Hong Kong in March 2001. The information he provided includes CIA informants and assets, international operations, and CIA lines of communication. For this, Ma also received tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for Chinese intelligence.
“This betrayal was never worth it,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said, when announcing the arrest. Ma was also threatened with a life sentence in prison.
Prosecutors say that Ma was helped by his older brother who had also worked for the CIA. His unnamed brother, who is free from charges, is 85 years old and suffers from advanced cognitive illness.
Video recording
In the video footage of the meeting in Hong Kong, Ma is found to have received US$ 50,000 for the information he provided. At the time, the FBI said Ma was a valuable asset belonging to china’s Security Ministry.
In 2014 Ma signed with the FBI in Honolulu, Hawaii, as a linguist. He was tasked with translating documents related to missile and weapons system technology research. Prosecutors said during his several years working for the FBI, Ma repeatedly carried digital cameras and photographed translation documents and other classified records and kept in touch with Chinese intelligence.
Ma’s travel history is also suspicious. In 2006 he returned to Honolulu, after his trip to Shanghai and reportedly brought US$ 20,000 in cash and a set of golf clubs he had never owned before. The plan is today (18/08), Ma dijawalkan undergo his first trial.
Former CIA member Jerry Chun Shing has also been convicted of similar charges. he was sentenced to 19 years in prison in Novermber last year for proving to be a spy for China. Shing, received US$40,000 dollars for providing information on cia members’ names and information about espionage technology.