Australian Man With China-Links Arrested for Selling State Secrets to Foreign Spies

An Australian man has been arrested for allegedly sharing national security intelligence with foreign spies.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) arrested and charged 55-year-old Alexander Csergo at his residence in the affluent suburb of Bondi in Sydney on April 14.

The arrest occurred as part of a joint investigation with the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce (CFIT) initiated by the country’s domestic spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).

The Australian national who normally lives and runs his business overseas, only just returned to Australia from China before he was arrested.

The AFP allege an individual, who claimed to be from a think tank, contacted Csergo via social media while he was offshore and “made arrangements for him to meet with their representatives,” AFP said in a media release.

Sources say he was recruited by two foreign spies under the names “Ken” and “Evelyn” who met with him on a number of occasions and offered him money to gather information about “Australian defence, economic and national security arrangements, plus matters relating to other countries.”

It is alleged the man received payment for compiling a number of reports for “Ken” and “Evelyn”—the two individuals are alleged to be working for a foreign spy agency while carrying out intelligence collection.

Csergo appeared via video link at the Parramatta Local Court on April 15 for a five-minute hearing and faced one count of “reckless foreign interference,” contrary to section 92.3 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).

According to his LinkedIn page, Csergo held high-level positions in advertising giants Ogilvy and Leo Burnett. Since 2011, he has operated mainly out of Shanghai and has experience across artificial intelligence, automation, marketing, and data.

Csergo did not apply for bail and was confined in custody to appear at the Sydney Downing Centre courts on April 17.

If found guilty, he will face a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment.

The Australian man is the second individual to be charged with an offence by the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce since Australia passed the National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Bill in 2018.

The first was Melbourne community leader Duong Di Sanh in late 2020.

The AFP charged Duong with preparing for a foreign interference offence, contrary to Section 92.4 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).

The latest arrest comes after ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess reiterated stark warnings about the state of foreign interference in Australia.

“I want to dispel any sense that espionage is some romantic cold war notion. It’s not; it is a real and present danger that demands we take security seriously,” he said in February during ASIO’s Annual Threat Assessment.

Burgess added that foreign spy agencies were “aggressively seeking secrets” about a range of areas including “defence capabilities, government decision-making, political parties, foreign policy, critical infrastructure, space technologies, academic and think tank research, medical advances, key export industries and personal information, especially bulk data.”

A Serious Threat to Australia’s Sovereignty: AFP Chief

“Espionage and foreign interference pose a serious threat to Australia’s sovereignty, security and integrity of our national institutions,” 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.”

Ethnic Communities a Key Target

On Feb. 27, the AFP announced it would launch an education campaign to advise local communities on how to respond to foreign interference—multicultural communities remain a key target for foreign regimes seeking to silence political dissent.

The AFP will work with communities and religious leaders to explain what foreign interference is and how to seek help—a factsheet will also be translated into over 30 languages to help culturally and linguistically diverse communities (CALD).

“Foreign state actors that undertake hostile activity against other countries are creating and pursuing opportunities to interfere with Australians—from decision-makers at all levels of government, across a range of sectors, and our communities,” AFP Special Investigations Commander Stephen Nutt said.

“On a community level, foreign interference is defined as threats and intimidation directed, supervised or financed by foreign governments and targeted towards CALD communities in order to cause harm and impact on Australia’s multicultural way of life.”

Nutt said unlawful acts of foreign interference include foreign governments or their representatives using “covert or deceptive conduct, threats of assault, blackmail, kidnapping or coercion by threatening an individual’s family member living overseas.”

“An example of foreign interference is where a foreign government agent pays an Australian citizen to undertake surveillance of people attending an Australian community discussion about the foreign government, and then reports back on people who were critical of the foreign government.”

“Another example is if a person in Australia willingly assists a foreign government by going to a person’s home or contacts them by telephone to threaten them with serious harm unless they stop criticising the foreign government in online forums,” Nutt said.

Under Australian law, for an activity to be considered foreign interference, the activity must be linked to a foreign government or its representative. Self-directed individuals who are loyal to a foreign government that threatens or intimidates community members is not foreign interference.

What Work Is Underway to Counteract Foreign Spying?

To detect and deter foreign interference activities, the Australian government has taken steps to appoint and establish different task forces to help strengthen national security.

Other than the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce that works together with the ASIO and AFP, the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce and University Foreign Interference Taskforce have also been established to ensure national security is maintained.

The University Foreign Interference Taskforce was established on Aug. 28, 2019, to provide better protection for universities against foreign interference in policy, research and scientific development.

Australian universities and institutions play a key role in developing new knowledge and technological innovation which is vital for Australia’s economic growth and international engagement.