Source : Perth Now news
A Sydney-born businessman has been found guilty of reckless foreign interference after he sold reports to Chinese spies.
Alexander Csergo stood trial before Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court to fight an allegation that he acted as a source for two spies believed to have worked for China’s Ministry of State Security.
The 59-year-old pleaded not guilty to one count of reckless foreign interference, with a jury hearing that while living in Shanghai he prepared reports for two people who were introduced to him as “Ken” and “Evelyn” from a Chinese think tank.
Csergo was living and running a business in Shanghai in November 2021 when someone claiming to be from the think tank with clients from a state-owned Chinese company approached him on LinkedIn, asking if he wanted to do paid part-time consultancy work.
The jury found on Fridaythat Csergo was “reckless” as to whether his conduct would support the intelligence activity of a foreign principal.
The Crown case was that Csergo intentionally engaged in reckless conduct that began after November 18, 2021, when he was first contacted on LinkedIn.
He was then later introduced to “Ken” and “Evelyn”, whom he met in empty cafes and restaurants and asked him to prepare reports on lithium, defence, the Quad alliance, AUKUS and iron ore.
While preparing the reports, Csergo approached colleagues for information as well as reaching out to former prime minister Kevin Rudd. Mr Rudd isn’t accused of any wrongdoing.
The Crown said Csergo knew the questions he was asking in order to prepare the reports included sensitive information.
On one occasion, Csergo suggested a meeting on the street in order for him to receive a cash payment from “Evelyn” of about 20,000 RMB (A$4200) in what the Crown described as “clearly a covert act”.
However, his defence argued while he received money for preparing the reports, he only supplied open source information and not state secrets.
Csergo said the documents did not reveal any information about national security or “secret information”.
He was arrested in April 2023 after returning to Sydney from Shanghai on March 3, 2023, intending to stay in Australia for three months.
More to come
