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Jacqueline Fernandez has been named by financial probe agency the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as an accused in the Es 215 crore extortion case involving Sukesh Chandrashekhar - Jyothi Venkatesh
Her name cropped up in the case after her pictures with the allegedly conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar surfaced. According to the popular portal Indiatoday.in, while Jacqueline Fernandez initially denied involvement with the conman, Sukesh Chandrashekhar had frankly told the ED that they were dating each other.
Sukesh Chandrashekhar, who has been involved in extorting hundreds of crores from businessmen, politicians and celebrities, is accused of extorting Rs 215 crore in one year from a businessman's wife over spoof calls even while he was lodged in a Delhi jail.
From June 2020 to May 2021, Sukesh Chandrashekhar, using some mobile apps and voice modulation software, made several calls to Aditi Singh, wife of former Ranbaxy owner Shivendra Singh who is in jail.
The conman posed as a high-ranking officer of the Union Home Minister and the Prime Minister's Office and extorted Ts 215 crores from Aditi on the pretext of helping her husband get out of jail. He made these calls even while he was lodged at Delhi's Rohini jail.
Following the arrest of his wife and actor Leena Maria Paul, the ED surfaced Sukesh Chandrashekhar's links with Jacqueline Fernandez and Nora Fatehi. The ED questioned Jacqueline for seven hours over her alleged involvement in the Rs 215 crore extortion case.
In October 2021, Sukesh Chandrashekhar's lawyer Anant Malik told the media that Jacqueline and Sukesh were dating each other. However, Jacqueline had categorically denied being in a relationship with the conman. She was also called for questioning by the ED for the first time.
Weeks after she denied dating Sukesh Chandrashekhar, intimate pictures of the actress with the conman surfaced. The pictures were allegedly taken in April-June of this year, when the millionaire con man was out on interim bail.
During a questioning by the ED in April 2022, Jacqueline admitted that she had received several luxury gifts from the conman, including expensive bags, clothes, jewellery, etc, worth Rs 5.71 crore. The actor also told the ED that Sukesh Chandrashekhar had hired private jets as well as booked exclusive helicopter rides for her.
Jacqueline Fernandez told the ED that Sukesh Chandrashekhar had introduced himself as the owner of Sun TV and that he belonged to the political family of Jayalalitha.And the foolish Jacqueline actually believed his lies as she wasn't aware of the fact that Jayalalita and DMK are as opposite as chalk and cheese
Jacqueline Fernandez told the ED that Sukesh Chandrashekhar had tried to get in touch with her during December 2020-January 2021 but she did not respond to his calls. The actor claimed that she was contacted by someone from the government office and was told to get in touch with Sukesh Chandrashekhar, who posed as one Shekhaar Ratna Vela.
On April 30, 2022, the ED attached the assets worth Rs 7.27 cr belonging to the actress. Sources said Jacqueline was the beneficiary of the proceeds of the money extorted by Sukesh Chandrashekhar.
Jacqueline Fernandez, who was on a Look Out Circular,(LOC) had to furnish a security amount of Ts 50 lakhs to fly to Abu Dhabi in May this year. Jacqueline Fernandez had sought permission from a Delhi court to travel to Abu Dhabi to attend the IIFA awards.
On August 17, 2022, the ED named Jacqueline Fernandez as an accomplice in the Rs 215 crore extortion case. Sources have gone on record that Jacqueline was aware that Sukesh Chandrashekhar was an extortionist and she was a beneficiary of the proceeds of the extorted money.