Alexander Csergo who sold reports to Chinese spies jailed after guilty verdict
A Sydney-born businessman convicted of reckless foreign interference after selling reports to Chinese spies has been arrested before sentencing.
Alexander Csergo acted as the source of two spies believed to be working for China’s Ministry of State Security.
A District Court jury in Sydney last Friday found Csergo’s conduct was reckless in whether it supported the intelligence activity of a foreign principal.
The maximum penalty for the crime is 15 years in prison.
Csergo was released on bail over the weekend; but was remanded in custody on Monday after Judge Craig Smith SC allowed a detention application by Crown prosecutor Jennifer Single SC.
“Ultimately, I am of the view that a period of imprisonment is realistically inevitable… I do not accept the existence of exceptional circumstances,” he said.
“My official instruction is that the application for detention be allowed.”
guilty verdict
During the trial, the jury heard that while living in Shanghai, Csergo prepared reports for two people introduced to him as “Ken” and “Evelyn” from a Chinese think tank.
The 59-year-old man was living and running a business in Shanghai in November 2021. Meanwhile, someone claiming to be from a think tank that has clients of a state-owned Chinese company approached him on LinkedIn and asked if he would be interested in doing paid part-time consulting work.
The Crown case concerned Csergo engaging in deliberately reckless behavior after November 18, 2021, when he was first contacted via LinkedIn.
He was later introduced to “Ken” and “Evelyn”, whom he met in empty cafes and restaurants, and was asked to prepare reports on lithium, defence, the Quadruple alliance, AUKUS and iron ore.
While preparing the reports, Csergo approached colleagues for information and also reached out to former prime minister Kevin Rudd. Mr Rudd has not been charged with any offence.
The Crown said it knew about the questions Csergo asked to prepare reports containing sensitive information.
On one occasion, Csergo suggested a meeting in the street to obtain a cash payment of approximately RMB 20,000 (A$4200) from “Evelyn” in what the Crown described as “an obviously covert act”.
However, his defense argued that he was paid to prepare the reports but only provided open source information, not state secrets.
Csergo said the documents did not reveal any information related to national security or “classified information.”
After returning to Sydney from Shanghai on 3 March 2023, he was arrested in April 2023 with the intention of staying in Australia for three months.
More to come
