Two men, who allegedly aided an arson attack on sleeping women, are involved in a criminal syndicate whose motive "seems shrouded in uncertainty", a prosecutor has said.
Ayman Bassal, 23, and Fadi Marjan, 41, faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday.
The men, from Greenacre, Sydney, are yet to enter pleas to charges of aiding and abetting arson with intent to endanger life.
The identity of a third person, accused of being the principal attacker, remains unknown to police.
While magistrate Ian Temby denied Bassal's bid for freedom, he granted Marjan bail with a $50,000 surety.
Marjan and Bassal were extradited from NSW after police searched a home and recovered pieces of evidence, including an encrypted mobile phone.
Police allege that just after midnight on October 13, 2023, an unknown, masked person arrived at a home on Gidjili Place, Giralang, in a green Ford Mondeo.
This person is alleged to have walked down the driveway of the home carrying a red jerry can before setting fire to the property and fleeing the scene on foot.
Two women, asleep in the house at the time of the arson attack, were unharmed.
Police allege the day before, Bassal helped the unknown person purchase the Ford from a car yard in Belmore, NSW, and provided them with a mobile phone which was used during the arson.
It is further alleged Marjan accompanied the unknown person to the ACT in another car and provided support before, during and after the offence.
On Friday defence lawyer Oussama Elfawal, who represented both men, said his clients did not know the alleged victims.
The court heard Bassal works as a limousine driver, while Marjan is a butcher.
Mr Elfawal said the prosecution "lacks knowledge of the actual incident" and both men were not reported to have been in the house or in the vicinity at the time of the fire.
The lawyer told the court his clients would obey a curfew and pay a $50,000 surety to the court if granted bail.
Mr Elfawal said there was no evidence Marjan was linked to a criminal syndicate.
Prosecutor Samuel Carmichael argued Bassal was "involved in assisting arson to seriously injure or kill a member of the public".
"[Bassal's] role in this was essentially assisting with the logistical planning, [and] the investigation of the premises of the subsequent meet-up," Mr Carmichael said.
"The motive seems shrouded in uncertainty, other than the fact it appears to be a relatively sophisticated criminal enterprise."
The prosecutor claimed the alleged victims had been targeted several times before the October 2023 fire.
If the two men were released on bail, there was the potential to criminally target the residents at the home, he stated.
When it came to Marjan, Mr Carmichael said he "appears to have played a much more integral role".
Mr Carmichael alleged Marjan had provided "moral support" and purchased the accelerant used for the fire from Bunnings.
"This was a sophisticated criminal enterprise which contained lengthy planning," the prosecutor told the court.
Bassal and Majan are set to face court again next month.
