Actress Jacqueline Fernandez was detained for a short while at the Mumbai Airport on Sunday due to an LOC (lookout circular) issued against her by the Enforcement Directorate in the ₹200 crore scam case involving Sukesh Chandrashekhar. The actress was attempting to fly to Dubai for a show when she was stopped by officials according to reports.
Airport officials informed the officials of the Enforcement Directorate about the detention of Jacqueline Fernandez after which she was questioned and let go. The ED will issue fresh summons to her to appear before the probe agency in Delhi today. Fernandez has already been questioned several times and her statement recorded.
The actress allegedly has close links to prime accused Sukesh Chandrashekhar who allegedly extorted ₹200 crore from the wives of jailed former Religare promoters Shivinder and Malvinder Singh. According to the 7,000 page charge-sheet filed by the ED, Chandrashekhar had spent more than 10 crores on Fernandez, gifting her with the likes of a cat worth 9 lakhs and a horse worth over 50 lakhs respectively.
Chandrashekhar and wife Lena Paul, also a small-time Bollywood actress, are also accused of running hawala rackets and money laundering schemes with which they had amassed a lot of money and assets, the charge-sheet claims. Actress Nora Fatehi has also been named in the charge-sheet and was questioned earlier although representatives of the actress claimed she was a "victim" in the case. Chandrashekhar himself told the media that he had gifted Fatehi with an expensive car worth crores.
As per the charge-sheet, Chandrashekhar and Jacqueline have been talking to each other since January 2021. Chandrashekhar used to speak to Jacqueline via phone while he was in jail. It is alleged that he developed his extortion racket in Tihar jail with the help of jail officials, several who have been arrested in the case.