A Delhi court on Wednesday formally filed charges against actor Jacqueline Fernandez, alleged fraudster Sukesh Chandrashekar and 16 others in a case. $A Rs 200-crore money laundering case is under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Special Judge Prashant Sharma of Patiala House Courts framed charges against Chandrasekhar and Fernandes under Section 3 (Money Laundering) and 4 (Punishment) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Both appeared in court on Wednesday afternoon in response to the summons issued against them, pleading not guilty and demanding a trial.
In a separate extortion case being investigated by the Delhi Police Crime Branch, the court also framed charges under Section 3 (punishment for organized crime) and Section 4 (punishment for possession of unaccountable wealth) of the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) against Chandrasekhar and 20 others.
“During a closed hearing on Wednesday, Chandrasekhar refused to sign the charging documents in the MCOCA case, arguing that the supplementary charge sheet relating to the newly arrested accused, Mohd Navas Ismail, was not yet filed and the petition seeking postponement of the order of the charge was pending before the Delhi High Court,” said Sukesh’s counsel, advocate Anant Malik.
Malik added, “The accused and Chandrasekhar’s wife, Lina Boulos, signed the charging document ‘under protest,’ while maintaining her right to appeal the charges.”
On May 30, the court held that there was sufficient material on record prima facie to raise strong doubts that Chandrasekhar had committed the offense of money laundering under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. The court referred to 36 pieces of evidence, including witness testimonies, call detail records and conversations recovered from mobile phones, which it said “suggested the generation of proceeds of crime amounting to $215 Crores from Aditi Singh and the modus operandi of money laundering.”
The court also held that an equal prima facie suspicion arose against Fernandez. Referring to her statement recorded under Section 50 of the Narcotics Control Act, the judge noted that she “admitted to contacting Sukesh and receiving gift and money from him”.
The court rejected Fernandez’s claim that she could not be prosecuted because she was not accused of the scheduled crime, describing the argument as “baseless.” It noted that the established legal position is that a person can be prosecuted under the Anti-Money Laundering Act even if he is not accused of the original crime. “Whether she knew that the gifts were proceeds of crime or not will be determined during the trial,” the court said.
According to the CEO, Chandrasekhar and his associates blackmailed them $200 crore from Aditi Singh, wife of former Ranbaxy promoter Shivinder Singh, in 2020 and 2021 by posing as senior government officials and promising to secure her husband’s release on bail. The agency claims that the money was laundered through shell companies and that a portion of it was used to buy gifts and luxury assets.
ED named Fernandez as a defendant in a supplemental prosecution complaint dated August 17, 2022, alleging that she received gifts worth more than $7 crore which constitutes proceeds of crime.
Her lawyers have consistently maintained that she was not aware of Chandrasekhar’s alleged criminal activities and that there was no criminal intent. Earlier this month, the agency opposed its application for approval, arguing that it effectively profited from the proceeds of crime.
Chandrasekhar was arrested by Delhi Police in 2017.
