Former CIA agent turns out to be a spy for China

Disgraced Former CIA Officer-Turned-Spy Agrees to Crushing Plea Deal Making Him Beholden to US Gov't for Life

In a fitting end to an unsettling saga, a former CIA officer who gladly betrayed the United States for a pittance will likely spend the rest of his life suffering the consequences.

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 71, originally pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to gather and deliver national defense information to the People’s Republic of China, a major American adversary.

Ma and his traitorous relative handed over a “large volume” of classified defense information to the Chinese officers over the course of three days. The foreign agents gave the pair $50,000 and secured their future loyalty.

Ma was placed in an off-site location, where his activity was closely monitored by agents. They soon made a disturbing discovery that proved Ma was not only willing to throw national security secrets to an adversary, he was willing to sell out the individual men and women who accepted and trusted him.

The FBI caught a spy for China

Ma accepted $2,000 cash from the undercover agent and expressed his desire to continue working for China, saying he wanted “the motherland” to win.

What sort of background check do they do on these people? Didn't our government used to execute spies?