Estranged wife says former AFL star Rick Olarenshaw operated illegal Bali brothel

Ni Ketut Sri Arista Sari Salainita, the ex-wife of former Australian Football League (AFL) star Rick Olarenshaw, is currently on trial in Bali for alleged involvement in illegal prostitution. Salainita has accused Olarenshaw of failing to attend her trial and has submitted a handwritten plea to the judge, begging for leniency.

Salainita, 36, is accused of running a SPA that provided sexual services in Bali, violating Indonesia's strict anti-prostitution laws. However, she argues that her husband Olarenshaw, his brother Darren, and two other Australian men are the real owners of the SPA. Before Tuesday's hearing, Salainita tearfully expressed concern for her two children, who currently live with family in Bali, and reiterated her hope that her husband would return to Bali to attend the trial.

Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) after being brought to court in prison garb, Salainita said: "I wish he was here, facing everything I'm facing with my other staff." She is currently being held in Bali's notorious Kerobokan Prison, which has previously housed drug smugglers from the Bali Nine and convicted terrorists. Salainita and another Indonesian woman are accused of being co-owners of Flame Spa, located in the popular tourist area of Seminyak, which police raided last September. Three other women who worked there are also on trial.

Salainita's lawyers submitted a defense against the charges in court for the first time, arguing that she should not be considered as "providing" erotic services under the law. "The provider of the business is Rick Olarenshaw, with funds originating from investments by Gregory Campbell Hinkley, Darren J. Olarenshaw, and Adam Dalby John, as evidenced by the dividend distribution between shareholders or owners," her lawyers wrote in a statement submitted to the court. Her lawyers also told the court that Rick Olarenshaw asked her to set up a company to run a massage parlor and SPA, but she was unsure of the specific activities carried out because the recruitment of masseuses was done by her husband.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation attempted to contact the Australian men mentioned in the court documents through various means. A representative of the Bali Geckos Australian Rules Football Club (with which Rick Olarenshaw and Greg Hinkley are associated) responded with a yawning emoji when asked how to contact the two men, before deleting it. It is believed that none of them are in Bali, and Rick Olarenshaw told Channel Nine News on the Gold Coast last November that it was a "delicate and complex situation," but he declined to comment on the case. Prosecutors submitted records of police interviews with former Flame Spa employees at a previous hearing, which described Rick Olarenshaw frequently appearing at the SPA. Witnesses also stated that they often saw Salainita at the SPA.

Salainita previously failed in a pre-trial legal request to have the case dismissed, and prosecutors said last week that they would still seek a nine-month prison sentence for her if she is convicted – far less than the maximum 12-year sentence under anti-pornography laws. At the hearing, she insisted that she did not know what was happening at Flame Spa. "I regret trusting him (Olarenshaw), I supported him because I thought it was the right thing to do," she told reporters. In a handwritten note she gave to the three judges, she wrote: "Hopefully my experience can be a lesson for Indonesian women, especially Balinese women, not to make the same mistake."

According to its website, Flame Spa offered "erotic experiences," and prosecutors submitted detailed evidence at trial outlining the various sensual massage services offered and how they violated the country's broad anti-pornography laws. Investigators had previously expressed a desire to interview the Australian men, but there is no indication that they consider them suspects. Rick Olarenshaw played in more than 80 AFL games, mainly for Essendon, including the club's 1993 Grand Final victory. He is also a well-known figure on the resort island, where he played for the Geckos club while serving as a director of several gyms. The verdict in the trial of Ni Ketut Sri Arista Sari Salainita and her colleagues is scheduled to be announced on March 4.