( CNN ) -- A New Zealand court denied bail Wednesday to the founder of the shuttered file-sharing site Megaupload , whose extradition is being sought by the U.S. Department of Justice . Kim Dotcom , who is also known as Kim Schmitz , will remain in custody until at least February 22 , when an extradition hearing is to be held , the court said . U.S. authorities shut down Megaupload last week and announced indictments against Dotcom and six other people connected to the site , accusing them of operating an `` international organized criminal enterprise responsible for massive worldwide online piracy of copyrighted works . '' Four of those charged , including Dotcom , were arrested in New Zealand at the request of the U.S. government . The New Zealand police detained Dotcom , a German citizen , on Friday after a raid on his mansion in the North Shore area of Auckland , the country 's largest city . In a packed court on Monday , Dotcom 's lawyer , Paul Davison , said that his client is innocent and should be granted bail . `` Mr. Dotcom emphatically denies any criminal misconduct or wrongdoing and denies the existence of any 'mega-conspiracy , ' '' Davison told the court . But New Zealand government prosecutors , acting on behalf of U.S. authorities , argued that Dotcom 's bail request should be denied because he presented an `` extreme '' flight risk . Dotcom is a resident of New Zealand and Hong Kong . Users of Megaupload -- ranked by the traffic-tracking service Alexa as the world 's 72nd-most-visited website before it was taken down -- could share and download files , many of which were copyrighted works made available for download without permission , according to U.S. authorities . They said the operation had generated more than $ 175 million in illegal profits through advertising revenue and the sale of premium memberships . Authorities have seized the company 's servers and domain names and frozen $ 50 million in assets . Davison said this week that , without access to his assets or travel documents , Dotcom did not present a flight risk . He added that his client wanted to stay in New Zealand with his pregnant wife and children . He criticized the `` aggressive '' approach taken by the police and prosecutors in accusing and detaining Dotcom , saying it had `` amplified the nature and gravity of this alleged offending beyond any reality . '' He suggested it had created `` a real misunderstanding and misconception of the business of Megaupload . '' CNN 's Karen Smith contributed to this story .
Kim Dotcom to remain in custody at least until February 22 . U.S. authorities shut down Megaupload last week . They accuse the website of pirating copyrighted works . Dotcom 's lawyer says he is innocent .