Jacqueline Fernandez appeared before Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday for additional interrogation and to record a statement. The agency had temporarily attached the actor’s Rs 7.27 crore cash in April under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The star was issued a new summons for the recording of her statement on Monday as the agency is tracing the remaining profits of crime in this case.
Sukesh Chandrasekhar has been arrested in connection with the alleged gifts to Jacqueline Fernandez totaling Rs 5.71 crore from illegal gains, including extortion. In addition to these gifts, he allegedly gave ‘funds to the tune of USD 1,72,913 (approx. Rs 1.3 crore as per current exchange rate) and close family members out of the proceeds of crime through co-accused Avtar Singh Kochhar’.
Chandrasekhar allegedly gave cash to a screenplay writer on behalf of Fernandez as an advance for creating a script for her webseries project. Fernandez is a Sri Lankan national who made her Bollywood debut in 2009. According to the ED, Chandrashekhar used unlawful money to buy presents for Fernandez, which he obtained by defrauding high-profile persons like Shivinder Mohan Singh’s wife Aditi Singh.
Aditi Singh, Shivinder Mohan Singh’s wife, was allegedly extorted more than Rs 200 crore from her over a year under the guise of contribution to party funds. She was allegedly contacted by a person claiming to be an officer from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and other junior officials.
In her statement recorded in August and October last year, the actor told the ED that she ‘received’ gifts from Sukesh Chandrashekhar. These included three designer bags from Gucci and Chanel, two Gucci outfits for gym wear, a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes, two pairs of diamond earrings and a bracelet of multi-colored stones, and two Hermes bracelets.
The ED has detained eight persons in this investigation so far, including Chandrasekhar, his wife Leena Maria Paul, Irani, and others. The agency discovered throughout its investigation that Chandrashekhar had ‘frequent communication’ with Fernandez from February till his arrest on August 7, last year. Fernandez also stated that she returned a Mini Cooper automobile that she had acquired in a similar manner.
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