A Sydney man accused of recruiting a schoolgirl to send money to the Islamic State group has been formally refused bail.

Milad Atai, of Guildford, chose not to appear on the video link and did not apply for bail when his matter was heard briefly in Sydney’s Central Local Court on Wednesday morning.

The 20-year-old, along with a 16-year-old girl, was charged on Tuesday with getting funds to, from, or for, a terrorist organisation.

• Schoolgirl arrested in counter-terror raids

Police allege Atai enlisted the 16-year-old to facilitate the transfer of $5000 to an Australian Islamic State fighter Ahmed Merhi in Syria.

The 16-year-old girl, a Year 12 student, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in Parramatta Children’s Court on Wednesday.

In court, the prosecution opposed bail, arguing the charge was very serious, carrying a maximum penalty of 25 years.

But the defence told the court the student had never been the subject of a criminal charge, was not a flight risk, and could spend years in jail waiting for trial.

The magistrate reserved her decision until Thursday and the girl will remain in custody overnight.

She was not known to police until recent months, when her alleged friendship with Atai came to light during the investigation into the shooting of police accountant Curtis Cheng in Parramatta last year.

Atai will remain in custody until his next court appearance in May.

Court documents about Atai said the activity occurred between February 3 and March 22 this year.

Atai part of alleged IS supporters group

Police said Atai is part of a group of young alleged IS supporters in Sydney suspected by police since mid-2014 of plotting terrorist attacks, trying to source guns and grooming teenagers to carry out attacks on their behalf.

Michael Phelan, of the AFP, and Catherine Burn, NSW Police, brief the media on Tuesday’s terror arrests. Photo: AAP

He was first arrested in Australia’s biggest-ever counter-terrorism raids in September 2014 as part of Operation Appleby and is the 14th person connected to that investigation to be charged.

He remains under investigation over last year’s shooting of Mr Cheng.

Further raids were also carried out after the October shooting and police allege the group targeted may have also been behind a series of terrorist plots.

Three young men have already been charged.

Deputy Commissioner Burn has previously described Operation Appleby as a complex, ongoing and long-standing investigation into alleged terrorism plots to conduct an attack in the state.

In January, Sameh Bayda, 18, of Guildford, was also arrested by the same counter-terrorism team and charged with three counts of collecting documents likely to facilitate terrorist acts.

His wife, Alo-Bridget Namoa, 18, was arrested in relation to an ongoing investigation into terror-related activities and was allegedly found in possession of a knife.

-ABC