Businessmen Alexander Csergo emailed DFAT after allegedly preparing reports for Chinese spies: court

A Sydney-born businessman accused of selling reports to Chinese spies wrote to DFAT about concerns after his home was raided by federal police in another “effort to control the narrative”, a jury has been told.

Alexander Csergo is standing trial before Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court to fight allegations he acted as a source for two spies believed to have worked for China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS).

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.

He was living and running a business in Shanghai in November 2021 when someone claiming to be from a Chinese 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.

Crown prosecutor Jennifer Single SC told the court on Tuesday that Mr Csergo sent an email to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on March 28, 2023, outlining his concerns over a search warrant in which his devices were seized.

“The accused sent an email to the foreign minister at DFAT … with a subject ‘confidential oversight’, where he outlines his concerns about the fact that the federal police and ASIO conducted a warrant on his house,” she said during her closing submissions.

In the email, Ms Single alleges, Mr Csergo explains that he had returned from Shanghai for three weeks after a period of three years, and that the nature of the warrant was “loosely based” on his time in China and matters of national security.

“In context, I do not work in Australian government sensitive areas … and have no state secrets … my work in China has nothing to do with Australia … I, on occasion, provide reports to a China-based think tank that has interests in geopolitics,” Mr Single said, reading the email.

Mr Csergo also said in the email he had provided reporting using “publicly available information”, the Crown said.

“He then says he has concerns about the way the search warrant was executed,” Ms Single said.

“On the same day … the accused sent a similar email to DFAT.”

“The Crown says that these emails are just another way of the accused trying to control the narrative … knowing that … his devices had been seized and he knew what was going to be found on those devices.”

Ms Single told the jury Mr Csergo intentionally engaged in reckless conduct which began after 18 November 2021, when he was first contacted on LinkedIn.

The Crown case is that Csergo knew the questions he was asking in order to prepare the reports included sensitive information, and that he was “reckless” as to whether the conduct would support the intelligence activity of a foreign principal.

Digital ‘breadcrumbs’

Ms Single then referred back to an interview Mr Csergo gave which referenced leaving “breadcrumbs” or “red flags” in the material he gave “Ken” and “Evelyn”.

“The idea was that he put informational breadcrumbs into the reports to create a digital trial without manifesting risk for himself,” she said.

“It is not logical … the accused formed the opinion that his reports were not being published … not being disseminated, so how did he think ASIO was going to be picking up on the breadcrumbs or the red flags if he knew his reports were not actually being published?”

Mr Csergo also allegedly stated that he gave the reports in hard copy or USB so that they wouldn’t be disseminated, the Crown said.

“Again … if he’s thinking was to put digital breadcrumbs … throughout the reports why did he give them over in hard copy … it’s simply not logical,” Ms Single said.

“If you accept his statement that he put these breadcrumbs or red flags to get the attention of ASIO … that raises the question why did the accused think he needed to do this?

“If he didn’t have any idea that he was dealing with national security … and national intelligence organisations the only logical answer is that the accused thought there was a substantial risk he was acting for Chinese intelligence.”

As she concluded her summing up, Ms Single said they invite the jury to return a verdict of guilty.

“I submit to you in my final words … that when you put all of this evidence together … when you considered the accused’s conduct … you will be satisfied of each of the elements of the indictment beyond a reasonable doubt,” she said.

However, his defence argued while he received money for preparing the reports, he only supplied open source information and denies he supplied state secrets.

He said the documents did not reveal any information about national security or “secret information”.

While preparing the reports, he approached a number of colleagues for information, as well as reaching out to former prime minister Kevin Rudd.

Mr Csergo was arrested in April 2023 after returning to Sydney from Shanghai on March 3, 2023, intending to stay for three months.

The trial before Judge Craig Smith continues.