Conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar’s wife, actress Leena Maria Paul, is a con woman herself who masterminded the deceptions and schemes run by her husband, the Enforcement Directorate chargesheet in money laundering cases against the couple has said, according to a report in news agency ANI.
The report quotes the chargesheet as saying that Paul has denied transactions even when confronted with evidence and had even deleted all evidence with her when she came to know of Chandrasekhar’s arrest.
It adds that co-accused Arun Muthu, Anand Moorthy and Jagdish have stated specific instances before ED official when Leena Paul allegedly threatened them.
On Friday, Sukesh Chandrasekhar was confronted with his alleged aide Pinky Irani, who reportedly introduced him to actress Jacqueline Fernandez, in Tihar Jail.
According to the first chargesheet filed by ED, it was Pinky who used to select luxury gifts for Fernandez and once the payment was made by Chandrasekhar she used to collect it from gift centres to hand it over to the actress.
The probe agency had taken permission from the court to confront Pinky Irani with Chandrasekhar, a report in news agency IANS said. Pinky is currently in ED custody. She was placed under arrest by the agency after she was called to join the probe.
Both Chandrasekhar and Pinky were asked the same set of questions. The ED wanted to know how Pinky helped him on the proceeds of crime, the report said.
Quoting a source, the IANS report said 50 questions were put to the duo and there were minor contradictions in their statements.
Sukesh Chandrashekhar and his wife, actress 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 jail.
The couple were already in Delhi Police custody and lodged in jail following a complaint by the spouses of jailed Ranbaxy promoters Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh. In the FIR, Shivinder Singh’s wife Aditi Singh had alleged that Chandrasekhar conned her of Rs 200 crore pretending to be a government official. Chandrasekhar allegedly said that he could ensure Shivinder’s bail. The Delhi Police also alleged that Chandrasekhar and his wife used hawala routes and shell companies to park the proceeds of the alleged crime overseas.
The Sukesh Chandrasekhar case hit the limelight when actresses Jacqueline Fernandez and Nora Fatehi were questioned by the ED. As per the agency’s chargesheet filed in a Delhi court, both received luxury cars, phones and other expensive gifts from the accused couple. Fernandez has said that the conman used the alias Shekhar Ratna Vela while approaching her and pretended to be Sun TV owner.
The chargesheet, filed before Additional Session Judge Praveen Singh, said that the statements of Jacqueline Fernandez were recorded on August 30 and October 20, in which she stated that she received gifts like three designer bags from Gucci and Chanel, two Gucci gym wear outfits, a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes, two pairs of diamond earrings and a bracelet of multi- coloured stones and two Hermes bracelets. She also received a car, Mini Cooper, which she returned, the ED claimed.
As per the chargesheet, she further said that Chandrashekar had arranged private jet trips and hotel stays for her on different occasions. The Enforcement Directorate further said that Chandrashekar gifted a BMW car to Nora Fatehi in December 2020 and later gave her Rs 75 lakh, besides other expensive gifts.
