A wealthy technology tycoon will remain in jail in Perth as the US prepares extradition proceedings over a text message scam.
Eugeni "Zhenya" Tsvetnenko, 39, was charged by New York authorities in mid-2016 with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which each carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
He is also charged with aggravated identity theft.
It is alleged the Russian-born multi-millionaire and co-offenders charged hundreds of thousands of mobile phone customers $US9.99 per month for unsolicited, recurring text messages about horoscopes, celebrity gossip and trivia between 2011 and 2013.
The US Attorney's Office says the "auto-subscription" scheme generated more than $US150 million in illegal profits, which the scammers used to fund lavish lifestyles, including expensive holidays, luxury cars and gambling.
But Tsvetnenko is now wearing prison greens at Hakea remand facility, where he has been detained since his arrest at his Applecross home five days before Christmas.
He appeared in Perth Magistrates Court via video link on Tuesday, when magistrate Joe Randazzo rejected his bail application, saying he posed a flight risk.
"It is not fanciful or a bare risk for a man with his financial capacity," Mr Randazzo said.
He noted Tsvetnenko had long known he faced extradition, lived openly under his real name, had not travelled overseas since early 2016 and had offered to surrender his Australian and Russian passports.
The magistrate also noted Tsvetnenko suffered depression, anxiety, panic attacks and a spinal condition, and shared the tasks of caring for his six-year-old daughter and three-year-old son with his estranged wife Lydia.
But these were not special circumstances, he said.
"The applicant has not satisfied me that these circumstances put the applicant in a position different to other persons facing extradition," Mr Randazzo said.
Tsvetnenko previously told AAP through a spokeswoman he was not guilty.
He will face an extradition hearing on April 12.
Others nabbed in the investigation include Darcy Wedd and Fraser Thompson, who unsuccessfully fought their charges at trial and were sentenced to 10 years and five years behind bars, respectively.
Days after he was indicted, Tsvetnenko resigned from the boards of Australian stock exchange-listed blockchain technology company DigitalX, and fraud mitigation software developer Tech Mpire, now named Adveritas.
He won the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2010 and the top gong at the Business News 40 Under 40 Awards in 2011.
