Aussie influencer detained in Bali, forced to pay $40,000 over prescription medication
An influencer from Adelaide was detained in Bali for carrying prescription medication and claims she was forced to pay almost $40,000 in extortion payments.
Tori Ann Lyla Hunter said she served four days in a Balinese prison and was facing up to five years’ jail if she didn’t pay.
The 25-year-old set up a GoFundMe, claiming she was targeted because of her social media following and had to pay $39,600 in bribes.
“I was personally targeted because of my social media status as a model,” she wrote on the fundraising site which has since been taken down.
“I was detained after going through customs for bringing my own prescription medication into the country, which I brought in pharmacy-labelled boxes along with a certificate from my GP.
“The corrupt lawyers and policeman asked for $39,600 as a bribe to set me free, this campaign is to help raise back some of that money.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvDZNjzHYa-/
Hunter said the airport authorities produced a list that labelled her medication as a class A drug but claims she was told by the Australian Consulate-General’s office in Bali that no such list existed.
“They searched me on the internet, found out that I am a model, assumed that I’m loaded and that’s why I was personally targeted and extorted for 40k,” Hunter said, according to 7 News.
According to the ABC, the department of foreign affairs said it would not comment on the specific case but confirmed it has helped an Australian woman who had been detained in Bali.
A spokesman for Bali police told the ABC that Hunter was released because her medicine was “in accordance with her illness and conditions”.
“Regarding the money that she mentioned, we did not receive, even a penny,” he said.
The lawyer she mentioned, Jupiter Lalwani, also denies she was extorted, stating the $25,000 fee his firm charged her was agreed upon by Hunter.
“We did not force her to choose us to be her advocate or legal advisor as claimed,” Lalwani told the ABC.
Hunter is the second South Australian detained in Bali this week after a man was filmed fly-kicking a motorcyclist and tackling a car on Saturday morning.
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