Sydney man wanted for multimillion dollar scam in US

US authorities are trying to extradite a Sydney man wanted by the FBI for his alleged role in one of the biggest telecommunications scams in American history.

US authorities are trying to extradite a Sydney man wanted by the FBI for his alleged role in one of the biggest telecommunications scams in American history.

Michael John Pearse is accused of being part of a ring that fleeced more than $196 million from American mobile phone users for unsolicited text messages on “horoscopes, celebrity gossip and trivia facts”.

Michael John Pearse is accused of being part of a ring that fleeced more than $196 million from American mobile phone users

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Last month the 50-year-old swapped his upmarket Surry Hills apartment for a prison cell when police swooped with an extradition arrest warrant from the US Department of Justice.

He’s charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering — each which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in a New York jail.

Pearse is also facing one count of aggravated identity theft and wasn’t required to appear when his matter was briefly heard at Central Local Court on Tuesday.

His co-accuseds, fellow Sydneysider Yongchao ‘Kevin’ Liu and Russian-born Perth internet millionaire Zhenya Tsvetnenko, also spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve behind bars after being arrested on the morning of December 20 following US extradition requests.

US prosecutors allege that between 2011 and 2013, the trio and a raft of other men charged hundreds of thousands of mobile phone customers $US9.99 per month for the recurring spam texts using a practice known as ‘auto-subscribing’.

Co-accused Zhenya Tsvetnenko

The US Attorneys Office allege they used the ill-gotten gains to fund lavish lifestyles including expensive holidays, luxury cars and gambling.

Pearse allegedly made nearly $8.5 million from the scheme but US courts recently froze $US200,000 of his cash and assets.

The co-founder of ‘startup incubator’ Tribal Ventures did not apply for bail on Tuesday and was remanded in custody until he’s due to appear via video link on February 12.

Liu, a 31-year-old Ryde man, will face Central Local Court on February 13. Neither men have yet to plead.

Pearse’s lawyer Hugo Aston said his client strenuously denies the allegations and will be fighting the extradition request.

Tsvetnenko, a 39-year-old who debuted on the BRW Young Rich List in 2009 with a fortune of $107 million, was denied bail in a Perth court on Tuesday.

He denies the allegations and is due to face an extradition hearing on April 12.

So far, eight men have admitted to their role in the scam, while two others who unsuccessfully fought their charges at trial, Fraser Thompson and WA-bred entrepreneur Darcy Wedd, were in 2018 sentenced to 10 years and five years behind bars, respectively.