Police say Brandon Kay, 29, from Griffith, was part of a joint crime between January 17 and 19 in which a 32-year-old man was kidnapped, taken to a house and subjected to violence and threats.

The man was then found chained to a tree in the Cocoparra National Park by a local farmer at around 8am on January 19, police say.

The next day investigators from Strike Force Danderbong – established in early November 2014 to investigate public shootings in Griffith – arrested Kay and another man.

Kay was charged with aggravated kidnapping and dealing with the proceeds of crime, namely $7900.

During Kay's bail application in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday, Justice Helen Wilson said police had alleged that the kidnapping "occurred in the context of a debt and the attempt to recover a very large sum of money from the complainant".

But Kay's barrister, Geoff Harrison, said his client denied the allegations against him, and that he faced an extended wait before standing trial.

"[On the police facts] for a large part the accused isn't present for the infliction of the violence," Mr Harrison said.

He also said that while Kay had a prior criminal record, this had not involved convictions for violence or intimidation, and that he had never failed to turn up to court while on bail.

In refusing bail, Justice Wilson said there was a need to protect the Crown witness in the case and the community more broadly.

She said that, according to the police, Kay had been personally involved in the kidnapping and in making threats against the complainant.

She said there was "some significant motivation not to appear, if only because of the possibility of a heavy custodial sentence being imposed if convicted".