Schapelle Corby's former prisonmate claims Schapelle "knew she was carrying drugs."

Convicted drug smuggler Renae Lawrence has claimed that her former friend Schapelle Corby “knew” she was carrying drugs into Bali.

Lawrence, who spent eight years behind bars with Corby, 36, made the hefty claim in a secretly-filmed video obtained by Network Ten and played on Eyewitness News tonight.

“(Schapelle) did a good job of keeping her secrets. She let one slip one night,” Lawrence said.

“She said that she knew the marijuana was in the boogie bag but the person who was supposed to be at the airport at the same time didn’t turn up.”

Lawrence, 36, who is still serving her own sentence in Bali’s Kerobokan Prison following her conviction in 2005, said she “wasn’t really sure” why Corby had confessed to her. “But she told me and the other prisoner that she’d done it more than this time. She said she’d bought the drugs (into Bali) before three times,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence also claimed that Corby, who was also convicted in 2005, had exaggerated her fragile mental state to elicit public sympathy.

“She said it herself, she played crazy so that she would get more sympathy… she just said how she had to keep saying she wasn’t guilty, because if she changed her mind she was scared she’d lose all the Australian support,” Lawrence said.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reduced Corby’s sentence by five years in 2012, citing compassionate grounds.

The Corby family has released a statement denying Lawrence’s allegations. It reads:

In the interview, Renae Lawrence apparently states that Schapelle Corby confided in her whilst Schapelle was an inmate in Kerobokan Prison. Schapelle did not confide in Renae Lawrence about any matter relating to her arrest in Indonesia/Bali. The claims by Renae Lawrence that Schapelle confessed to her that she had knowingly smuggled the marijuana in her boogie board bag are false.

Schapelle denies ever making any such confession to Renae Lawrence or to anyone else. The further claims by Renae Lawrence that Schapelle had done so on many occasions are preposterous, maliciously false and a creation of her own fantasy. The actions of the Ten Network in procuring and presumably paying for this interview, are extremely hurtful and are causing Schapelle and our family great anxiety and distress.

The credibility of Renae Lawrence should be seriously questioned and unsubstantiated allegations should not be made simply for the sake of ratings and money.

Ten’s Eyewitness News stated that Lawrence had been unaware she was being filmed at the time of the discussion — but having been made aware of the tape’s existence, Lawrence reportedly said she stands by her comments.

Earlier today, Network Ten admitted it had paid “a small sum” for the footage to the interviewer’s agents, which commentators claim is a move to bolster recent weak ratings.