Daniel Tzvetkoff, the disgraced and bankrupt former head the defunct Australian e-processing company Intabill is to remain in custody after all.
The high-living 28-year-old financial whiz, who left a multi-million dollar trail of debts in his wake after his Brisbane-based company folded, was arrested whilst attending a conference in Las Vegas recently and subsequently released on bail by Las Vegas judge Peggy A Leen despite prosecutorial objections that the defendant was a flight risk.
However, in a surprise move this week, Judge Lewis A Kaplan of the New York District Court, where Tzvetkoff will face charges involving $500 million on bank fraud and money laundering allegations, overturned the Las Vegas court decision.
Earlier, prosecutors said that Tzvetkoff, as a foreign national facing serious charges who possibly has access to a stashed $100 million, posed a serious flight risk.
“No condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the presence of the defendant as required,” Judge Kaplan decided in committing Tzvetkoff to continued detention.
Tzvetkoff, who had hoped to be freed on bail guaranteed by his father, now faces anything up to two years before the complicated and multi-charge case, which could result in up to 75 years jail-time, is brought to trial.
Judge Kaplan instructed that Tzvetkoff is to be transported to New York in the custody of US Marshalls, where he is to be held until trial.
Tzvetkoff’s plans to submit to electronic monitoring and a curfew, and live in New York until his trial will now have to be put aside.