An Australian man who worked in China was found guilty of reckless foreign interference by a Sydney court yesterday, the first conviction for the offense.
Marketing executive Alexander Csergo, 59, was arrested by Australian police in Sydney in 2023, shortly after he returned from living in Shanghai.
Csergo was accused of accepting cash from Chinese intelligence agents to write reports on topics such as Australia’s AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership with the US and the UK, as well as critical minerals.
Photo: AP
The court heard he had met in Shanghai with two suspected Chinese agents known to him as “Ken” and “Evelyn” after they made contact on the professional networking platform LinkedIn.
‘SHOPPING LIST’
Csergo met the pair in empty cafes in Shanghai, where he suspected the venues had been cleared for their meetings.
He returned to Australia in 2023 with a “shopping list” of topics “Ken” wanted information collected on.
The list was discovered by police three weeks after Csergo arrived in Australia to live with family at Bondi Beach.
The court heard Csergo exchanged thousands of WeChat messages with the pair between 2021 and 2023, and accepted cash in envelopes.
RECKLESS INTERFERENCE
He was the first person charged with the crime of reckless foreign interference, which carries a maximum 15-year prison term.
The law was introduced in 2018, criminalizing activity that helps a foreign power interfere with Australia’s sovereignty or national interest.
Csergo had argued much of the information in the reports was publicly available.
A jury found Csergo guilty yesterday, a court official said.
The case is to resume on Monday for sentencing.
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