An Australian businessman has been jailed for selling intelligence to China

Alexandre Sergo, who has been installed in Shanghai since 2002, would have been given a “shopping list” of information by two Chinese dealerships to give them.

By Le Figaro with AFP

published On 04/17/2023 at 10:07to update On 04/17/2023 at 10:36

An Australian businessman has been charged and jailed for it sell information he have Chinese spies Alleged, we learned on Monday during a court hearing in Sydney.

Alexander Sergo, 55, who has lived in Shanghai since 2002, is accused by the police of having been given away by two Chinese agents.Shopping listInformation that will be provided to them in exchange for a fee, according to the prosecution.

Security Charter

“He did this in return for cash given to him in sealed envelopesAttorney General Conor McCreith said in court. According to him, the requested information relates to Australian lithium and iron mines and the AUKUS security agreement, concluded in 2021 between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom.

According to the indictment read out in court by Judge Michael Barko, Alexander Sergo, who worked in advertising, marketing and data analysis, “waspresented wellIn Chinese business circles andParticipate in several face-to-face meetings in coffee shops in ShanghaiFrom 2021 with the two alleged Chinese spies.

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He was arrested at his mother’s home in Sydney on Friday on charges of “Mindless interaction with a stranger– an offense punishable by 15 years imprisonment – and placed in pre-trial detention without the possibility of bail. His lawyer, Bernard Colliery, for his part, argued that Alexandre Xergo only provided the two Chinese agents with general information, as part of an advisory mission.