A businessman accused of foreign interference has been ordered to wear an ankle monitor while he lives at his elderly mother’s home awaiting trial.
Alexander Csergo was granted bail during a hearing at Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court on June 28, on conditions including that he surrender his passport and not approach any points of international departure.
The 56-year-old has pleaded not guilty to one charge of reckless foreign interference after allegedly providing information to Chinese spies posing as think-tank workers.
A trial date has been set for May 2025, a near-one-year wait that Judge Graham Turnbull said was the main factor in granting bail.
Judge Turnbull noted the time Csergo would otherwise spend in custody could be greater than his sentence should he be found guilty.
Csergo’s 86-year-old mother, Catherine, said outside court she was overjoyed to have her son back after he had spent more than a year in custody.
“When he comes home we’re going to have coffee together, sit on the balcony, look at the sea,” Ms. Csergo said.
“He told me ’mum, I‘ll take care of you’, that’s why he come home.”
Judge Turnbull said the greatest risk from releasing Csergo was that he would flee, particularly given his previous overseas connections, including working with the Chinese government.
“There is potentially a place for him to go,” he said.
High-profile lawyer and former ACT attorney-general Bernard Collaery, who is representing Csergo, successfully argued the risk of flight could be dealt with by imposing strict conditions on his client.
Csergo, his brother and their elderly mother have each agreed to forfeit $100,000 (US$66,900) should he fail to appear in court.
Other conditions included in his bail are that he report daily to police and submit to ankle monitoring.
Judge Turnbull on June 27 said according to the evidence the alleged offending would fall in the less serious range.
“The strength of the crown case is, I would say, arguable,” he told the court.
Judge Turnbull noted the case did not include allegations that any of the material Csergo is accused of providing was classified.
Mr. Collaery told an earlier court hearing his client had co-operated with the alleged spies out of fear of repercussions while he was in China
Csergo used open-source information and co-operated as harmlessly as possible in his exchanges with the alleged foreign agents, according to Mr. Collaery.
“This man was determined not to be detained in China,” he told a bail hearing at the time.
“He was co-operating to keep his nose clean.”
Csergo is due to face trial on May 19, 2025.
