Jacqueline Fernandez ‘consciously overlooked’ Sukesh Chandrasekhar’s criminal past due to ‘lure of money’, says ED

The Enforcement Directorate’s chargesheet filed against Jacqueline Fernandez says that the actor not only ‘consciously chose to overlook conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar’s criminal past’ but also ‘continued to indulge in financial transactions with him’. The chargesheet also alleges that Jacqueline as well as her family members and friends have benefited from the relationship financially. Also read: Jacqueline Fernandez summoned by Delhi’s Patiala House court in ₹200 crore extortion case

Sukesh Chandrasekhar is in prison currently and under investigation in a ₹200-crore extortion case. Jacqueline, who was rumoured to be in a relationship with him, has also been named an accused in the case by the ED.

As per news agency ANI, the ED also concluded that “the lure of money ensured that the criminal history of the person she was engaging with did not matter.” The chargesheet further stated: “Investigation so far has revealed that the accused actor is directly or indirectly involved in the proceeds of crime and acquired, possessed & used part proceeds of crime – valuable gifts for herself & her family members in India and abroad and thereby committed an offence of money laundering u/s 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, which is punishable u/s 4 of PMLA, 2002.”

Earlier, the ED had alleged that Sukesh used money to purchase gifts for Jacqueline, which he had extorted by cheating high-profile people including former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh’s wife Aditi Singh. The agency has also stated in the chargesheet that actor has ‘has consistently shifted her stance’ about the gifts she received from Sukesh. The ED says that though she did divulge the details about some, she continues to deny “certain assets purchased by Sukesh for her and the investigation on that aspect is going on”.

The chargesheet also considers her connected with Sukesh in a manner that shows she “committed the offence of money laundering as defined under section 3 of PMLA for knowingly using and possessing the proceeds of crime”.

Earlier in the day, the Patiala House Court in Delhi had issued summons to Jacqueline, directing her to appear before the court in the case on September 26. On August 17, a supplementary charge sheet was filed by the ED in the extortion case against Sukesh Chandrashekar, mentioning Jacqueline as an accused.

Jacqueline has been summoned and questioned by the ED several times in the case. Advocate Prashant Patil, who appeared for the actor, stated that she has always cooperated with the investigation agencies and attended all the summons to date. “She has handed over all the information to the best of her ability to the ED,” he said.

The ED in April provisionally attached ₹7.27 crore funds of the actor under the PMLA apart from ₹15 lakh cash as the agency called these funds as “proceeds of crime”. In her response to the court through her legal team, the actor maintained that her fixed deposits are from her own money and not from what was gifted to her by Sukesh.

Though Jacqueline did share a cryptic social media post after being named an accused in the case, she has not commented on the matter in public yet. Her social media post from August 17 was addressed to ‘dear me’, and read ‘it’ll all be okay’.

(With ANI inputs)