Rs 200-crore fraud case: Jacqueline Fernandez appears before Delhi police

Mumbai, Sep 14: Actress Jacqueline Fernandez appeared before Delhi police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) office on Wednesday in connection with Rs 215 crore scam involving conman Suresh Chandrashekar. The actress has previously been summoned twice but did not appear on both the occasions.

The 37-year-old actor has been questioned multiple times by the agency in this case, the last being in June.

The actor, a Sri Lankan national, debuted in the Hindi film industry in 2009.

The ED in April provisionally attached Rs 7.27 crore funds of the actor under the PMLA apart from Rs 15 lakh in cash as the agency called these funds as "proceeds of crime".

"Sukesh Chandrashekhar had given various gifts worth Rs 5.71 crore to Jacqueline Fernandez from the proceeds of crime generated by criminal activities including extortion," the ED had then said in a statement.
"Chandrasekhar had put Pinky Irani, his long-time associate and co-accused in this case, to deliver the said gifts to her," the ED had said.

In addition to these gifts, it said, Chandrashekhar also gave "funds to the tune of USD 1,72,913 (about Rs 1.3 crore as per current exchange rate) and AUD 26740 (approx. Rs 14 lakh) to the close family members of Fernandez out of the proceeds of crime through co-accused Avtar Singh Kochhar, an established and well known international hawala operator." The agency said its probe found that Chandrashekhar had "delivered cash to the tune of Rs 15 lakh to a writer on behalf of Fernandez as advance for writing a script of her web series project."

The ED has alleged that Chandrashekhar used illegal money to purchase gifts for Fernandez which he had extorted by cheating high-profile people including former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh's wife Aditi Singh.

He is alleged to have conned Aditi Singh and her sister by impersonating as the Union home secretary and also as the Law secretary over phone.

The ED said its investigation found that a person "was contacting people spoofing calls to dupe them as the numbers reflecting on their phone were from government officers and he claimed to be a government officer offering to help people for a price."

The agency found in its probe that Chandrashekhar was in "regular contact" with Fernandez from February until he was arrested on August 7 last year by the Delhi Police.