"I would very much like to say something, oh very much indeed. I cannot for now … but later at another time."

And with a polite smile, Philip de Figueiredo, one of the alleged players in the offshore tax schemes allegedly used by Paul Hogan, Glenn Wheatley and other wealthy Australians, yesterday entered the Magistrate's Court in Jersey.

Dressed in a steel grey suit, white shirt and fire-engine red tie, he began his battle against extradition proceedings to bring him to Australia on possible charges of defrauding the Commonwealth and tax fraud.

De Figueiredo, a resident of Geneva, was arrested in his native Jersey, in the Channel Islands, where he has a holiday cottage in the island's east. He spent the night of December 30 in custody after a late-night swoop by the island's financial crimes unit.

The Jersey Attorney-General's representative told the court that de Figueiredo, a principal of the Swiss tax-haven specialists Strachans, is believed by Australian authorities to be a key strategist of the offshore schemes at the centre of Operation Wickenby, Australia's biggest investigation into taxation fraud.

A fellow Strachans director, Philip Egglishaw, lives in Monaco and might also face extradition proceedings, but Australian authorities have not commented on whether warrants have been issued.

In a near-empty court yesterday, attended only by a senior detective observing on behalf of the financial crimes unit, the magistrate Brigid Shaw reiterated the stringent bail conditions, which include £100,000 ($217,000) surety, daily attendance at police headquarters, surrender of all travel documents and a ban on coming within 50 metres of the island's wharves or ports.

Representing the Jersey Attorney-General, the solicitor John Edmonds told the court that under extradition laws Australian authorities had 45 days to serve the full paperwork outlining their case.

The 45 days will expire on February 13, almost five years to the day that Operation Wickenby was launched with a Valentine's Day raid and the seizure of a laptop belonging to Egglishaw from a Melbourne hotel room.

Mr Edmonds told the court that Australian authorities had confirmed their full case would be provided inside the required period and asked the court to set aside February 16 to begin arrangements for the extradition hearings.

The arrest of de Figueiredo comes at a critical time for the investigation, which is run by a multi-agency taskforce led by the Australian Taxation Office and includes the Australian Crime Commission. Critics, including a former assistant tax commissioner, John Passant, have said the $300 million operation was taking too long and failing to deliver.

But authorities have defended the delays, saying they were inevitable as targets launched protracted legal challenges and a lack of co-operation from overseas authorities delayed access to key documents.

So far three people have been convicted and jailed - the music entrepreneur Wheatley, who served a 15-month sentence for $318,000 of tax fraud, and two Brisbane directors. Two others are due for sentencing in February.