Sydney man jailed for 3.5 years over ‘fake’ defence reports for Chinese spies

Alexander Csergo, an Australian IT consultant, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for providing fake, plagiarized defense reports to Chinese intelligence operatives. He was recruited via LinkedIn while working in China and was found guilty of foreign interference.
Why it matters
This case highlights the growing concerns regarding foreign espionage and the use of professional networking platforms to target individuals for intelligence gathering.
Alexander Csergo outside court in February. He has been sentenced after providing information to two Chinese spies posing as thinktank workers. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP Alexander Csergo outside court in February. He has been sentenced after providing information to two Chinese spies posing as thinktank workers. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP Australian security and counter-terrorism Sydney man jailed for 3.5 years over ‘fake’ defence reports for Chinese spies Alexander Csergo sentenced over reckless foreign interference after preparing documents for duo who approached him on LinkedIn
Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast
Prefer the Guardian on Google A seemingly innocuous message on a social media platform has snowballed into a Sydney man being jailed for foreign interference.
Alexander Csergo, 58, was jailed for three years and six months on Thursday, after being found guilty by a jury in March of helping Chinese spies.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in