Former Rotorua woman charged with drug possession

Leeza Ormsby.

Former Rotorua woman Leeza Ormsby has been charged with drug possession, three months after her arrest in Bali.

Police today handed the New Zealander over to prosecutors, who questioned her for two hours.

The former Paddington shop assistant cried and tried to use a magazine to cover her face from waiting media as she was taken to the cells.

Ormsby was charged with possessing a marijuana joint she allegedly admitted to having in her handbag when arrested at the scene of a drug bust at a villa on the resort island in February.

She has not been charged with possessing the MDMA and hashish found in the villa. She denies any knowledge of those drugs.

The charge carries punishment of between four and 12 years in jail, prosecutor Ni Luh Putu Oka Ariani says.

"We have 20 days before handing over to the court and that could be extended for another 30 days,'' she said.

Ormsby's lawyer, Ari Soenardi, said his 37-year-old client is healthy, but worried about the effect of the media attention on her family.

"She's crying, yeah, maybe from stress because she has to go to the cells,'' he said.

"She said that she's glad there's progress in her case. ... I hope the verdict will be the best and reasonable.''

Ormsby has been held in a Bali police cell without charge since February 12, two days after Schapelle Corby was released on parole for drugs charges.

It's expected Ormsby will be taken to Kerobokan Prison later on Tuesday.