Jacqueline Fernandez was aware of cases against conman Sukesh and his marital status, says ED

New Delhi: Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez was aware of conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar's criminal history and "cooked up a false story" to wriggle out of investigations in a multi-crore money laundering case, the Enforcement Directorate has said in its charge sheet.

Jacqueline Fernandez's claim that she never knew of Sukesh Chandrashekhar's cases is false, the Enforcement Directorate says in the charge sheet that has been accessed by NDTV.

"Jacqueline Fernandez was well aware of the criminal antecedents of Sukesh Chandrashekhar and also the fact that Leena Maria Paul is his wife in February 2021," the charge sheet says.

"She consciously chose to overlook his criminal past and continued to indulge in financial transactions with him," it says.

It was her hair stylist Shaan who informed her about the identity and criminal history of Sukesh Chandrashekhar in February 2021.

"Despite this, Jacqueline Fernandez ignored this fact and continued the relationship with Sukesh and also received, used, and enjoyed the financial benefits from Sukesh, which are nothing but proceeds of crime," the agency says.

The Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating the money trail in a ₹ 200 crore extortion case against the conman, named Jacqueline Fernandez as an accused earlier this month.

Jacqueline Fernandez admitted to receiving five watches, 20 pieces of jewelry, 65 pairs of shoes, 47 dresses, 32 bags, 4 Hermes bags, nine paintings, and one Versace crockery set as gifts from the conman, according to the charge sheet.

The agency says Sukesh Chandrashekhar gifted two cars to the parents of Jacqueline Fernandez in April 2021, which she did not disclose during her questioning. Only after being confronted with evidence did she admit that Sukesh had bought her a property at Welgana in Sri Lanka.

She allegedly also requested her staff to delete data on their phone related to the conman.

The Enforcement Directorate alleges that Jacqueline Fernandez tried to cover up by constantly stating that she had in fact been a victim of Sukesh. "However, during investigation she has failed to provide any substantial material to establish the victimization by Sukesh," the charge sheet says.

She wiped her phone clean, deleting crucial evidence and this counted as tampering with evidence, says the agency.

The charge sheet says Chandrashekhar gave ₹ 7.12 crore to the actor - ₹ 1.26 crore to her sister in the US, ₹ 15 lakh to her brother in Australia, and gifts worth ₹ 5.71 crores.

Known for films like "Kick", "Bhoot Police'' and "Vikrant Rona", the actor is the only accused named in a supplementary charge sheet. She has said she is a victim of a larger criminal conspiracy and that she was cheated.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar was arrested by the Delhi Police for allegedly extorting around ₹ 215 crores from Aditi Singh and Shivinder Singh, former promoters of pharmaceutical giant Ranbaxy.