A Delhi court on Saturday framed money laundering charges against alleged fraudster Sukesh Chandrashekar and eight others, including Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez, in a case of Rs. 200 crore extortion case
Special Judge Prashant Sharma of Patiala House Courts framed charges under Sections 3 and 4 of the Maharashtra Organized Crime Act, cheating and impersonation against Chandrashekar and 22 others in the case filed by the Delhi Police Crime Branch.
The court summoned all the defendants on June 3 to formally draft the charges. A detailed order is awaited.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) case, based on Delhi Police’s MCOCA FIR from August 2021, alleges that Sukesh Chandrashekar and his associates extorted Rs. 200 crore from the complainant Aditi Singh, wife of former Ranbaxy promoter Shivinder Singh, during 2020 and 2021, by impersonating a senior central government official to arrange her husband’s release on bail.
The federal agency alleged in its indictment that the racketeering funds were laundered through a network of shell companies and transactions, with a portion of the funds allegedly being used to purchase gifts and luxury assets.
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While the original charge sheet named eight people, including Chandrasekhar as the main accused and the intermediary Pinky Irani, through whom Chandrasekhar communicated with actress Fernandes. The total number of defendants is 18.
The ED named Fernandes as an accused in the supplementary prosecution complaint dated August 17, 2022, wherein she was charged with possession of proceeds of crime in the form of various gift items worth more than Rs. 7 Crores.
Jacqueline’s lawyers have consistently maintained that she was not aware of Chandrashekar’s criminal activities and that there was no criminal intent.
The CEO had earlier this month opposed Fernandez’s request to become an approving authority in the money laundering case, stating that she had actively benefited from the proceeds of crime and was now trying to evade prosecution.
The federal agency alleged in its indictment that the racketeering funds were laundered through a network of shell companies and transactions with a portion of the funds allegedly used to purchase luxury gifts.
A Delhi court had in April granted bail to Chandrasekhar in the Enforcement Directorate case linked to the AIADMK election symbol “dual leaves”, after observing that he had already served more than half of the maximum seven-year sentence stipulated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Out of the total 31 cases against him, Chandrashekar has so far been granted bail in 27 cases, with the remaining ones including the current extortion case and the money laundering probe arising from it.
