The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets of ₹7.27 crore, including fixed deposits valued at ₹7.12 crore, of Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez, in connection with the money laundering case against "conman" Sukesh Chandrasekhar.
According to the agency, the accused had given various gifts worth ₹5.71 crore to Ms. Fernandez from funds generated through an extortion racket he ran from inside a Delhi jail in connivance with some prison officials.
"Sukesh Chandrasekhar had asked Pinky Irani, his long-time associate and co-accused in this case, to deliver the gifts to her [Ms. Fernandez]. In addition to these gifts, he also gave over U.S. $1.7 lakh and Australian $26,740 to her close family members through co-accused, Avtar Singh Kochhar, an established and well-known international hawala operator," an official said.
The "conman" also got delivered about ₹15 lakh to a scriptwriter on the actor's behalf as an advance for writing a script for her web series project. The cash amount has also been attached, the agency said.
The ED probe is based on a case registered by the Delhi Police. It is alleged that, while lodged in a Delhi jail, Chandrasekhar contacted people using caller ID spoofing apps, posing as a government official. They fell into his trap as the numbers reflecting on their phones would be government offices.
Using the same modus operandi, the accused contacted Aditi Singh, wife of former Ranbaxy promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh, multiple times by impersonating the Union Home Secretary, Union Law Secretary, an officer in the Prime Minister's Office, and others. He extorted over ₹200 crore from her over a period of one year on the pretext of contributions to party funds.
In 2019, the victim's husband was arrested along with his brother, Malvinder Singh, by Delhi's Economic Offences Wing in a criminal case.
During the money laundering probe, the ED had earlier conducted searches in different parts of the country and seized a bungalow in Chennai, 26 vehicles, cash and valuables totalling about ₹45 crore. The agency has so far arrested Chandrasekhar and eight others, including his wife Leena Maria Paul. A charge-sheet has also been filed against them.
