By Zach Hope and Amilia Rosa
Singapore/Bali: The estranged wife of former AFL footballer Ricky Olarenshaw will remain in detention in Bali after a judge ruled that investigators had gathered enough evidence to arrest her for running a massage parlour that allegedly offered illegal sexual services.
Balinese entrepreneur and influencer Ni Ketut Sri Astari Sarnanitha, or Nitha, had claimed she should never have been arrested because Olarenshaw and his three Australian business partners were the true owners of Flame Spa Bali.
Former AFL player Ricky Olarenshaw and his wife Sarnanitha, or Nitha.Credit: Facebook
Though she was listed as the business owner on the official paperwork, this was just a means to get around foreign investment laws that required non-citizens to stump up a certain level of capital, her lawyers claimed. They said she was merely an employee.
Pictures were tendered to the court last week showing one of the Australians with wads of Indonesian money that Nitha’s lawyers said were dividends from the business.
But the Bali police were not concerned with the alleged Australian connection and did not interview Olarenshaw or the others. Investigators argued that they followed correct procedure: Nitha, who had 99 per cent official stake in the business, and another Indonesian woman, Ni Made Purnami Sari, who had the remainder, were legally responsible for the alleged illegal activity happening inside.
Judge Tenny Erma Suryathi on Tuesday sided with the police, saying they only needed to provide two valid reasons for listing Nitha and Purnami as suspects and had, in fact, given three.
The two main reasons were the business papers that declared the women to be the owners, and witness interviews conducted after the police raid. The third reason, the judge said, was the apparent alignment between the interviews and the documents.
Tenny said the role of the pre-trial court was to rule on whether Nitha’s arrest was valid – not to determine her guilt or innocence, nor whether Olarenshaw and the other Australians had questions to answer.
For the same reason, the judge did not delve into claims from Nitha’s lawyers that the police raid may have been initiated by the Australians to recoup their money following the collapse of Olarenshaw and Nitha’s personal and professional relationship this year.
Nitha’s principal lawyer, Donny Tri Istiqomah, said after the hearing that the team respected the judge’s decision.
“We understand the ruling – that it wasn’t under the pre-trial jurisdiction. We are ready to present all our evidence at the main trial,” he said.
No date has been set.
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