Man caught carrying $890,000 denied bail

A Vietnamese man allegedly caught with two bogus travel documents and almost $900,000 in cash has been denied bail in a Sydney court.

Cuong Viet Bui, 42, was arrested on Tuesday after allegedly receiving two packages that contained $890,000 in cash from a Hong Kong man outside a Pyrmont hotel.

He was under surveillance after the arrest of a 44-year-old woman on money laundering charges as a result of intelligence from Australian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Agency.

Police charged Bui with dealing with the proceeds of crime and searched his Mt Pritchard home, where a further $400,000 in cash and two false travel documents, one from Italy and one Portuguese, were allegedly found.

During a bail application at Central Local Court on Wednesday, Bui said through a Vietnamese interpreter that he had been given the documents and told they were licences for driving in Europe.

Almost $100,000, some cocaine and casino chips were allegedly found in the hotel room of his co-accused from Hong Kong, who didn't apply for bail.

Bui's bid for bail was opposed by the prosecution at Central Local Court, citing concerns he would fail to appear at court if released as he had false travel documents and access to large sums of money.

It was also submitted that Bui posed a risk of reoffending.

Bui offered a surety of up to $10,000 and said he would surrender his passport, adhere to a curfew and report to police daily.

But Magistrate Les Mabbutt accepted that no conditions could offset concerns raised about giving Bui bail and denied the application.

Bui and his co-accused are due back in court on April 22.