By Kirsty Needham and Lewis Jackson
SYDNEY (Reuters) – The lawyer for an Australian charged with foreign interference said his client had become “very worried” about two alleged foreign intelligence agents while living in Shanghai and returned to Australia after a decade-long career in China.
Marketing executive Alexander Csergo, 55, was arrested in the beachside suburb of Bondi on Friday and is the second person charged under Australia’s foreign interference law, which criminalises activity that helps a foreign power interfere with Australia’s sovereignty or national interest. It carries a 15 year prison sentence.
Csergo is alleged to have accepted cash for writing reports, which Australian federal police say contained information about Australian defence, economic and national security arrangements.
His defence lawyer, Bernard Collaery, sought bail in court on Monday at a Sydney local court, saying the reports Csergo had written were based on publicly sourced information and the case against his client was “shallow and unsubstantiated”.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation had searched Csergo’s laptop and WeChat accounts upon his return from Shanghai, the court was told.
Judge Michael Barko questioned why Csergo had been given cash in an envelope, by the two alleged foreign agents, named in court only as “Ken” and “Evelyn”, and why they had not sought information about lithium in Australia themselves.
“The Chinese did not want it to be known they were making these inquiries and receiving these reports,” Barko commented.
Collaery said making cash payments was a common business practice in China.
“Of course he believed Ken and Evelyn were keeping tabs on him. That’s how it works in China, he became very worried about it,” Collaery said.
Csergo, 55, appeared in court via video link from Parklea Prison where he is being held as a high security prisoner. His mother and brother were in court.
He had worked in China since 2002 in data marketing, including for a major international advertising agency, a United States data provider, and most recently as a consultant for China Telecom.
Csergo is alleged to have intentionally engaged in conduct on behalf of or in collaboration with persons acting on behalf of a principal, and was “reckless as to whether the conduct would support intelligence activities of a foreign principal, and a part of the conduct was covert or involved deception”, a court attendance notice showed.
Collaery said Csergo’s career had come “tumbling down” since his arrest and he had no intention to return to China and instead planned to pursue the Australian government for damages for ruining his career.
The hearing continues.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Michael Perry)
