00:01After years working in Shanghai, Alexander Sergo returned to Sydney in 2023 only to be
00:07accused of reckless foreign interference. After a near three-year legal fight to clear his name,
00:13today a jury found him guilty. Mr Sergo, how do you feel about that result?
00:17I can't comment.
00:19The district court trial heard a LinkedIn user requested paid consultancy work in 2021
00:24for clients from state-owned companies. The businessman then met two people known as Ken
00:30and Evelyn, who requested reports on topics including lithium mining, the change in the
00:35German government and AUKUS. Sergo handed them over in hard copy or on USB drives and returned
00:41to Australia with a so-called shopping list of more topics from Ken. The Crown argued his conduct
00:47across several years amounted to reckless foreign interference because he suspected Ken and Evelyn
00:53were from a Chinese intelligence agency. The 59-year-old's lawyers insisted the reports
00:58only contained open source material, passed off as his own work. Crown prosecutor Jennifer
01:04Single SC said what was of ultimate value was Sergo's contacts, but the defence said those
01:10contacts were fake and he never provided access to anyone. It took jurors two days to reach this
01:16result and the businessman quietly sighed in the dock as it was revealed. The Crown has flagged
01:21a detention application for Monday. Are you concerned about the possibility of going into custody on
01:26Monday? I can't comment on that either. He'll remain on bail over the weekend and report to police
01:32twice each day.
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