Multimillionaire conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar accused Jacqueline Fernandez of “not telling the truth” in her submissions to the Enforcement Directorate with respect to the amount he transferred to the actress’ sister in the United States.
Chandrasekhar, who is facing prosecution in a Rs 200 crore money laundering case among others, told the ED during questioning that he transferred $180,000 to her Fernandez’s sister Geraldine who lives in the US instead of $150,000 as claimed by the actress. The transcripts and audio clips of Chandrasekhar’s questioning by the ED have now been accessed by News18.
Sukesh Chandrasekhar and Leena Maria Paul were recently arrested by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) over an alleged extortion racket being run from Tihar Jail in Delhi.
The couple were already in Delhi Police custody and lodged in jail following a complaint by jailed Ranbaxy promoter Shivinder Singh’s wife Aditi Singh. The complaint alleged that Chandrasekhar impersonated a government official and conned Aditi of Rs 200 crore on the pretext of arranging bail for her husband. Chandrasekhar and Paul have also been accused of using shell companies to stash money overseas.
In his replies to the ED, Sukesh Chandrasekhar claimed to be a friend of Jacqueline Fernandez and said he had given her “several gifts and high-end clothing”.
“I have gifted her 15 earrings, five Birkin bags and other bags from YSL, Gucci… I also gifted her Cartier bangles and Tiffany bracelets. These jewellery and earrings are diamond-studded and approximately Rs 7 crore,” he told the ED.
Officials pointed to him that several expensive watches were seized during raids at his East Coast Road residence in Chennai and asked him if he had gifted any similar items to Fernandez, to which the conman replied in the affirmative. “Yes, I gifted her Rolex, Roger Dubuis, Franck Muller,” he said.
When told that the actress claimed he had loaned $150,000 to her sister Geraldine, Chandrasekhar said that wasn’t the truth. “No, she is not telling the truth. Through Deepak Ramnani (who has also been arrested), I transferred $180,000 and BMW (X5) to Geraldine,” he claimed.
Chandrasekhar also claimed to have presented other expensive gifts to Jacqueline Fernandez and her family.
“As far as (her) parents are concerned, I gifted them a Maserati, and a Porsche to her mother in Bahrain. I also allowed Jacqueline to frequently use a private jet which I was using,” he said.
In her replies to the ED, the audio and transcripts of which were also accessed by News18, Jacqueline Fernandez said Chandrasekhar approached her under the alias Shekhar Ratna Vela and pretended to be the owner of Sun TV.
“Shekhar told me that he is a big fan. Soon he told me that I should movies in south India and that Sun TV is producing many such movies. Since February, I was in touch with him. He gave me his number… and asked me to make calls on this number,” Fernandez said.
Besides the disputed loan amount to her sister, the actress said Chandrasekhar also transferred Rs 15 lakh to her brother Warren who resides in Australia.
She said she had received expensive gifts from Chandrasekhar, including a horse named Espuela, besides three designer bags from Gucci and Chanel, two Gucci gym wear outfits, a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes, two pair of diamond earrings, a bracelet made of multi-coloured stones, and two Hermes bracelets as well. The actress further claimed that Chandrasekhar gave her a Mini Cooper car, but that she returned it to him.
Besides Fernandez, the ED has also questioned actress Nora Fatehi in the case and claimed that Chandrashekar gifted a BMW car to Fatehi in December 2020 and later gave her Rs 75 lakh, besides other expensive gifts.
