Friends of former Entellium Chief Executive Paul Johnston -- including parents of a youth soccer team he once coached -- have written letters on behalf of the incarcerated Internet executive supporting his bid to be released from prison.

But federal prosecutors say the citizen of the United Kingdom -- who was charged with wire fraud last month for allegedly cooking the books at Entellium -- remains a flight risk due in part to the inability to locate $8 million in corporate funds that were allegedly transferred to Malaysia.

In court documents (PDF) filed today, The U.S. Attorney's Office cited those factors and others as evidence that Johnston doesn't deserve another detention hearing. The filings also said Johnston is broke, which elevates the possibility that he could skip town if released.

"His ties to the community are weak, he has no property to post, and as this Court noted, the fact that he has no money or property after being paid significant sums certainly raises a concern that the defendant has secreted funds which could be used to facilitate his flight," the documents say.

And federal prosecutors note that attempts to retrieve bank records from Malaysia have been unsuccessful.

"The defendant claims that there is new information establishing that these funds were not “siphoned” off to the defendant. That new information consists solely of statements made by the defendant. The government submits that the defendant’s assurances that he did not siphon off any money is not terribly persuasive evidence, absent corroboration by bank records."

Johnston, along with Entellium's chief financial officer, Parrish Jones, were arrested Oct. 7 for allegedly inflating revenues at the company over a period of four years. In 2006, for example, board members were told that Entellium had nearly $4 million in revenue when it really was $582,789. Jones was released pending trial, but Johnston has been detained since his arrest. 

In an email announcing his resignation, Johnston allegedly admitted to altering the revenue numbers.

The fraud case has rocked the Seattle startup and venture capital community, with some questioning why audits were never completed at Entellium. The company -- backed with more than $40 million from Ignition Partners, Sigma Partners, West River Capital and others -- has laid off most of its employees in the wake of the fraud charges.

If convicted, Johnston could face more than 10 years in jail and deportation. The nine letters of support that friends wrote on behalf of Johnston were filed under seal, but federal prosecutors said they should not sway the judge to grant another hearing.