Jury finds Bondi expat was Chinese spy asset
Miklos Bolza
Updated ,first published
An Australian businessman recklessly made reports about people he should have suspected were Chinese spies, a jury has found.
Alexander Csergo, 59, was running a business in Shanghai in November 2021 when he was approached on LinkedIn by a woman claiming to be from a Chinese think tank.
His decision to prepare false, plagiarized reports for two people later known only as Ken and Evelyn was enough for a NSW District Court jury on Friday to find him guilty of one count of reckless external interference.
He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
But the IT consultant will have at least one more weekend of relative freedom after he bowed to prosecutors’ demands to immediately detain him.
The jury found that the 59-year-old should have suspected Ken and Evelyn were working for China’s Ministry of State Security.
The former Waverley College athletics captain, who has a bachelor of science degree, started working in China in 2002 after working for Telstra and Hyatt International.
He later worked with a major American advertising agency, leading the establishment of data analytics infrastructure for Shanghai Volkswagen and later helping develop systems for China Telecom and French advertiser JCDecaux.
Reached in November 2021, Csergo used open source information to compile reports on a variety of topics, including mining, politics, defense and security.
He falsely claimed to have interviewed a number of people, including former prime minister Kevin Rudd.
Reports were delivered personally to Ken or Evelyn—sometimes at restaurants and cafes when no one else was present—in exchange for envelopes containing thousands of dollars in cash.
Despite this information being worthless, the jury found Csergo guilty after being told by crown prosecutors that he and his connections were valuable.
Ken also gave the 59-year-old a “shopping list” of sensitive topics to research when he returns to Australia in early 2023.
This document was found by local spies and police who raided his home in Bondi, east Sydney, in March that year.
Csergo was the second person charged by the federal police’s Countering Foreign Interference Task Force since new laws came into force in 2018.
In her closing argument to the jury, lead prosecutor Jennifer Single said trust had grown between Csergo and two of his handlers, as evidenced by cash payments rising from about $1,000 to more than $6,000.
Following the guilty verdict, Single appealed again for Csergo’s arrest.
However, the businessman’s lawyer opposed this.
Due to the complexity and timing of the matter, Judge Craig Smith continued Csergo’s bail pending a full hearing on Monday morning.
The Crown agreed on the condition that Csergo report to police twice a day over the weekend.
Csergo declined to comment to reporters as he left court Friday afternoon.
AAP
Beginning the featuring a roundup of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
