Farouk Arnaz – A Muslim cleric charged for breaking child protection laws by marrying a 12-year-old girl accused his former lawyer of fraud for failing to make good on promises to spring him from jail.

Pujiono Cahyo Widianto, also known as Sheikh Puji, filed his complaint against the lawyer, Nasihin, with the National Police on Friday after attempting to lay the complaint with the Jakarta Police on Thursday.

"I have come here to lodge a complaint. I felt I was being fooled by [Nasihin]. He promised to get me leased from jail and any charges after I paid him more than Rp 2.4 billion [$237,600]," he said.

He added that despite the promises, he was still being prosecuted for breaching the country's Child Protection Law in relation to his marriage. "I hope the police can act on my complaint," he said.

The cleric acknowledged he had no evidence of Nasihin's alleged promises. "But I have a document signed by Nasihin acknowledging payment of Rp 2.4 billion," he said.

Nasihin could not be reached for comment on Friday. However, he told a local newspaper that the money he received was for legal fees. "I didn't defraud or blackmail him," he said.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Nana Soekarna said the complaint would be forwarded to the East Java or Semarang Police, where the original allegation was made.

The 43-year-old cleric was declared a suspect in May after police established the age of the girl, Lutfiana Ulfa. He was arrested in May and held for 12 days before being released.