‘Vague’ foreign influence laws in focus as Australian businessman accused of taking money from spies

The Sydney businessman Alexander Csergo, who allegedly received cash in envelopes from suspected Chinese spies, is "at the grey end" of Australia's "intrusive" foreign influence laws, his barrister, Bernard Collaery, says.

Csergo, 55, was arrested in Bondi a week ago and charged with one count of reckless foreign interference. The businessman had been living and working in Shanghai, but returned to Australia recently.

"It is alleged that on a number of occasions the man met with two individuals, known to him as 'Ken' and 'Evelyn', who offered the man money to obtain information about Australian defence, economic and national security arrangements, plus matters relating to other countries," the Australian federal police said in a statement.

The police alleged Csergo received payment for the reports, and that "Ken" and "Evelyn" were collecting information for a foreign intelligence service.

Csergo was denied bail, a decision Collaery will appeal.

The federal government was involved in an expensive and long-running court case prosecuting Collaery and his former client, Witness K, for their alleged role in exposing a 2004 mission to bug the Timor-Leste government offices, until the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, dropped the prosecution last year.

Collaery, who has remained a fierce critic of Australia's legal system, is now calling on Dreyfus not to consent to the prosecution of Csergo.