Alexander Csergo, who is charged and facing trial for foreign interference, allegedly received cash in envelopes in return for sensitive information on national security, an Australian court has heard.
The prosecution alleges Csergo, 55, returned to Australia earlier this year with a “shopping list” of information to gather for the Chinese state.
The businessperson is accused of compiling and selling details on the AUKUS pact (with the U.S. and UK), the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, lithium mining, and iron ore mining activities to two spies named “Ken” and “Evelyn.”
The two Chinese spies are alleged to work for a foreign spy agency and carried out intelligence collection.
According to reports, Prosecutor Connor McCraith told the courts that Csergo, by his own admission, suspected the pair of being spies soon after their initial meeting in China in early 2021. However, he proceeded to remain in contact with them, exchanging thousands of messages in the process.
“He clearly has links to the Chinese state and two people he clearly thinks work for the MSS [Ministry of State Security],” McCraith said.
“He also travelled back to Australia with a shopping list.”
The list was found by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) three weeks after Csergo returned to Australia earlier this year.
McCraith said rather than alerting Australian authorities like a reasonable person would have done, Csergo maintained his relationship with the spies and invited “Ken” to visit Australia.
“In other words, he invited someone he believed to be a spy to come to Australia,” the prosecutor said.
Csergo was refused bail because he was declared a flight risk. Further, Magistrate Michael Barko ruled that keeping Csergo in confinement was also for his personal safety from the Chinese Communist Party.
‘Sinister’ Behaviour
Csergo’s defence lawyer, Bernard Collaery, argued that the information and documents his client compiled and sold were “largely from open-source documents.”He told the court that during the investigation, ASIO and the Australian Federal Police had “gone right through” his laptop and WeChat messages and the gathered information was from publicly available material.
Collaery said the work he carried out was not sinister and that Csergo was an experienced, successful businessman who understood that in China “all roads lead to the state.”
“They were a source of income. Cash payments for consulting reports might have a colour to it in Australian terms; it might well be the way business is done in China. It’s not necessarily, on my submission, sinister,” he told the court.
However, the magistrate disagreed saying if a regular person were to hear about Csergo’s activities they would find it suspicious.
Eric Abetz, former Liberal Senator, said the case, irrespective of its outcome, served as a reminder to all Australians that their obligation to their fellow citizens should “always be paramount.”
A Serious Threat to Australia’s Sovereignty: AFP Chief
Csergo, who normally lives and runs his business overseas, only just returned to Australia from China before he was arrested.He had sold intelligence during the Shanghai COVID lockdowns for extra personal funds.
The Australian businessman is the second individual to be charged with an offence by the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce since the country passed the National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Bill in 2018.
“Espionage and foreign interference pose a serious threat to Australia’s sovereignty, security and integrity of our national institutions,” Australian Federal Police (AFP) Assistant Commissioner Krissy Barrett told reporters.
“The Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce, which includes ASIO and the AFP, is working to disrupt the threat and mitigate the harm from foreign interference and espionage.”
The AFP alleges other Australian citizens and residents may have also been approached by “Ken” and “Evelyn” and is urging those individuals to provide information to the national security hotline.
The 2019-20 annual report revealed that the Prime Minister’s Office and Home Affairs Department together committed $87.8 million (US$58.8 million) to the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce to “enhance Australia’s operational and investigative capacity to disrupt and deter acts of foreign interference and espionage.”
