A former CIA officer was arrested Friday on charges that he conspired with a relative who also served in the CIA to send top-secret classified information to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The criminal complaint containing the charge against Alexander Yuk Ching Ma was unsealed Monday morning, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

“The trail of Chinese espionage is long and, sadly, strewn with former American intelligence officers who betrayed their colleagues, their country and its liberal democratic values to support an authoritarian communist regime,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers.

He added, “This betrayal is never worth it. Whether immediately, or many years after they thought they got away with it, we will find these traitors and we will bring them to justice. To the Chinese intelligence services, these individuals are expendable. To us, they are sad but urgent reminders of the need to stay vigilant.”

Ma, 67, is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Hong Kong. According to court documents, he began working for the CIA in 1982 and maintained a top-secret clearance. Ma also signed various nondisclosure agreements, in which he acknowledged his duty to protect government secrets during his time at the CIA.

He left the agency in 1989 to live and work in Shanghai, China, before going to Hawaii in 2001.