Unclear if Australian businessman accused of passing info to Chinese spies had access to top secrets

SYDNEY – On his lengthy list of achievements and career highlights on LinkedIn, there is nothing to suggest that 55-year-old Alexander Csergo – an Australian businessman who has worked in Australia, Singapore and China – may have been selling information to Chinese spies.

According to his LinkedIn page, he completed an arts degree at the University of New South Wales and studied marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management before working internationally in a range of data analytics, consulting and management roles. 

His current role is listed as president of innovation and transformation for a firm called Conversys, where he has completed projects for China Telecom and a subsidiary of Chinese carmaker Dongfeng Motor Group.

Yet, in a case that has made headlines around the world, Csergo was

arrested earlier in April at his home in Bondi,

a Sydney beachside suburb, and accused of selling defence and security secrets to Chinese spies.

He has been charged with reckless foreign interference and faces a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

The Australian Federal Police said Csergo, who until recently lived in Shanghai, received cash in envelopes from Chinese intelligence agents.

He allegedly met several times with a man and a woman – known to him as “Ken” and “Evelyn” – who

offered to pay him to obtain information

about Australian defence, economic and national security arrangements, plus matters relating to other countries.

Csergo has denied all wrongdoing.

The case has attracted strong interest in Australia, whose domestic spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), recently warned that foreign interference and espionage are now the country’s top security threat and occurring at levels greater than during the Cold War.

But the case has also made headlines because it raises intriguing questions about Csergo, and how he could have assisted foreign spies when he does not appear to have had any special access to Australian intelligence.

On his lengthy LinkedIn page, at least, he does not appear to be holding back any secrets.

The page shows that he worked at several major global firms, including a six-month stint in Singapore from November 2006 at advertising and public relations firm Ogilvy, and then a five-year one, also in Singapore, for digital technology and data analytics firm Insight42.

He first worked in China in 2002 and, after his six years in Singapore, moved back to China in 2011. There is a photograph of him wearing a suit and looking suavely and confidently at the camera.

At a court hearing in Sydney last Monday, prosecutors said Csergo admitted in interviews with the police that he met Ken and Evelyn in 2021 and suspected they were Chinese intelligence agents.

He was first approached via LinkedIn by Evelyn, who had some inquiries about lithium mining in Australia.

He allegedly met Evelyn’s boss Ken and exchanged thousands of messages with the pair on WeChat, as well as met them at cafes and restaurants in Shanghai, which were often empty and appeared to have been deliberately cleared.

Ken and Evelyn, who allegedly worked for China’s Ministry of State Security, paid Csergo to provide handwritten reports about topics such as Australia’s new Aukus security pact with the United States and the United Kingdom, Canberra’s involvement in the Quad security dialogue with Washington, Tokyo and New Delhi, as well as Australia’s lithium mines and German defence firms.

But Csergo’s lawyer told the court that his client merely provided reports based on publicly available articles from sources such as the Australian Financial Review newspaper and Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based think-tank.

The lawyer, Mr Bernard Collaery, said there was nothing “sinister” about Csergo’s activities.

Csergo allegedly provided reports for about two years and was given a “shopping list” of intelligence priorities ahead of his return to Australia earlier this year.

Prosecutors said he should have alerted the Australian authorities but instead kept in touch with Ken and even invited him to visit Australia.

Police and ASIO allegedly examined Csergo’s laptop and confirmed that his reports had been based on publicly available material.

Analysts have suggested that the Chinese agents might have wanted to cultivate a relationship with him before assigning more sensitive tasks.

For instance, he might have been asked subsequently to seek a job with the Australian government or another agency that could have enabled access to more secret information.

Mr Collaery said Csergo became increasingly anxious and suspected that Ken and Evelyn were watching him because “that’s how it works in China”.

Eventually, Csergo decided to return to Australia but planned to go back to China “when he believed it would be safe to return”.

But it turned out that it was unsafe for him in his home town. The court last week refused his request for bail.

The magistrate said Csergo should be presumed innocent but there is a risk that he could flee due to his close ties to China.

The next court hearing is on June 14.