Jacqueline Fernandez was named as an accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday in connection with the Rs 215 crore extortion case. The case also involves conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar. While Jacqueline has been questioned multiple times by the agency regarding her relationship with the conman, a new transcript has revealed that Jacqueline and Sukesh were cross-questioned face-to-face by ED.
In their previous summons, Jacqueline and Sukesh were asked about their relationship, the gifts that were exchanged and more. During one of the questions, Jacqueline listed all the gifts that she received from Sukesh. These included a horse named Espuela, designer bags from Gucci and Chanel, Gucci gym wear outfits and two pairs of diamond earrings, among a few other gifts.
The Vikrant Rona actress had also claimed that he had given her sister Geraldine, who lives in the United States, loan of $150,000. Meanwhile, Sukesh had claimed that he gifted Jacqueline’s parents a Maserati and her mother in Bahrain a Porsche. The ED also associated Rs 7.27 crore worth of funds with Jacqueline under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
NDTV has now made a transcript of Jacqueline and Sukesh’s cross-examination public in which the actress and the conman were asked about the gifts that Sukesh allegedly gave Jacqueline. While Jacqueline maintained her statements, Sukesh claimed he was ‘not able to recall’ most details about the gifts he gifted her.
The duo was asked if Sukesh purchased BMW Car for Jacqueline’s Geraldine Fernandez and cars for her parents in Bahrain. While Jacqueline denied it, Sukesh replied, “I am not able to recall.” When they were asked the amount Sukesh arranged into the bank account of Geraldine Fernandez in the USA, Jacqueline replied, “150,000 USD” while Sukesh maintained, “I am not able to recall.” He had previously claimed that he loaned out USD 185,000 to the actress’s sister.
They were then asked to list the gifts that Sukesh gave Jacqueline. The actress revealed, “I received 4 bags from Gucci, Chanel, Saint Laurent, Dior, 2 shoes from Louis Vuitton and Louboutin, 2 outfits from Gucci, perfumes, 4 cats, a Mini Cooper, 2 diamond earrings, a multicoloured diamond bracelet.” Sukesh on the other hand replied, “I am not able to recall.”
He had previously claimed he 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 said in one of his previous questions.
Meanwhile, both of them accepted that Sukesh gave a cash amount of Rs 15 lakhs to Advaita Kala on behalf of Jacqueline.
Besides discussing the gifts he gave her, the ED also cross-questioned them about their mode of communication and the times they met. “We have spoken on the phone from Feb 2021 to August 2021 and met twice in Chennai in June,” Jacqueline told the ED during the cross-questioning, adding that she first spoke to him in the last week of January 2021 and ‘spoke on WhatsApp calls and WhatsApp video calls.’
Meanwhile, Sukesh told ED, “We have spoken on phone from Jan end, 2021 to August 2021 and met twice in Chennai,” Sukesh claimed, adding that he first spoke to her in December 2020. He said that they communicated on ‘WhatsApp only.’
Jacqueline had previously claimed that she wasn’t aware of Sukesh’s real identity. During the face-to-face questioning, Jacqueline maintained that he introduced himself as the owner of Sun TV. “He introduced himself as Shekhar Ratna Vela and as the owner of Sun TV and as the nephew of Jayalalithaa,” she said. Sukesh said, “I introduced myself as Shekhar.”
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