An Australian businessman accused of selling secrets to China has told a Sydney court it is “ridiculous” police still have not filed a full brief of evidence in his case, nearly four months after he was arrested, while he remains in prison.
Alexander Csergo, arrested in Bondi in April and charged with one count of reckless foreign interference, is alleged to have swapped reports on business and politics with two Chinese handlers, Ken and Evelyn, in exchange for envelopes of cash.
Stuck in Shanghai during the height of Covid lockdowns, Csergo told Australian police he believed he was being groomed by intelligence officers from China’s powerful Ministry of State Security, and filled his reports with anodyne, open-source information – and in some cases incredible information such as a purported interview with the Australian prime minister – in order to placate his handlers until he could escape China.
At a court hearing on Friday, Csergo’s case was adjourned for eight weeks after his lawyer, Bernard Collaery, said he had not received the full brief of evidence from prosecutors, pointing out to magistrate Mark Whelan the original court order had been for the full brief to be served by 14 June, nearly two months ago.
Collaery said he would seek to make submissions to federal attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, after the defence receives the full brief of evidence.
“The federal attorney general has the discretion to proceed or not proceed with the charges,” he said.
“We don’t wish to make a bail application without the full brief. We don’t wish to write to the attorney general until we have the full brief.”
Appearing by video link from Parklea prison, Csergo interjected to the court.
“Don’t have the full brief. What’s going on? It’s been six months,” he said.
“It’s ridiculous.”
The magistrate also appeared exercised by the delay in the case.
“Mr Csergo’s in custody … we need to move the matter along,” Whelan said, “nothing focuses the director [of public prosecution]’s mind more than a deadline”.
Conor McCraith, appearing for the commonwealth director of public prosecutions, told the court: “there is anticipated to be further evidence obtained from overseas: we don’t have a timeframe for when that will be served.”
Csergo, a marketing executive, had worked in China and across Asia for more than two decades when he was first approached by two people – whom he assumed to be agents from China’s powerful ministry of state security (MSS) – in 2021.
In March, Csergo participated in more than five hours of interviews with Asio and the AFP.
He was arrested a month later, on 14 April, at his Bondi home. He is the first person charged with reckless foreign interference, part of a suite of new national security laws introduced in 2018. The maximum penalty is 15 years in prison.
