Actor Jacqueline Fernandez, accused in an Enforcement Directorate (ED) case for allegedly enjoying proceeds of crime from alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, has turned witness in the EOW case along with actor Nora Fatehi, the third supplementary chargesheet filed in the matter has revealed.
The Economic Offences Wing’s (EOW) supplementary chargesheet was filed against Pinky Irani, a TV anchor, accused of introducing several actresses to Chandrashekhar inside Tihar jail. The EOW case follows an FIR filed by Aditi Singh, the wife of former Fortis promoter Shivinder Singh, who claimed she was duped by Chandrashekhar, who extorted Rs 200 crore from her under the pretext of securing bail for her husband. Shivinder was arrested in 2020 for alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL).
The chargesheet filed earlier this week before Additional Sessions Judge Shailender Malik detailed how Chandrashekhar allegedly tried to connect with Fatehi with the promise of a BMW car and other expensive items only to later ask her to become his girlfriend, which “freaked out” her family members.
Fernandez, for her part, told the court that “her entire life was destroyed” by Chandrashekhar who “duped” her.
Fatehi told the court on January 13 that she was invited to attend an event in Chennai hosted by Chandrashekhar’s wife, actor Leena Maria. She was asked to be the chief guest at the event, judge a dance competition and hand out an envelope containing money to disabled children.
After the event, Chandrashekhar spoke to her over the phone with an “international accent” and offered a car as a “thank you token”.
She refused as they had already handed her gift boxes consisting of an iPhone and Gucci bag, Fatehi said. The accused persons kept pestering her with the car, but she instead offered to promote their event free of cost since “they were generous”, she said.
When a man called Suresh, who claimed to be an employee of LS corporation (which hosted the Chennai event), kept insisting her to take the car, she handed over her relative Bobby’s contact to him, she said. Around this time, Fatehi also “connected the dots” that Suresh was, in fact, Chandrashekhar himself.
Chandrashekhar and Bobby went on to discuss business opportunities, including a film project, for which he wanted to gift him a BMW car as signing fees. However, he insisted that Fatehi come along with him to pick the car. “I just went with the flow,” Fatehi said.
Later, Fatehi left for Dubai, where she got a call from a cousin, who told her that Irani had contacted Bobby and told him that Chandrashekhar wanted to finance the actor’s “entire life, family, career” in exchange for her “to be his girlfriend”.
Fatehi claimed Irani told her kin that “Jacqueline is waiting in line for this but Sukesh wants Nora. She should be honoured”. Following this, Fatehi’s cousin had a heated row with Irani over the phone during which she threatened to report the latter to the police.
On January 2, Fernandez’s statement to the court detailed how Chandrashekhar had claimed to be the owner of Sun TV and nephew of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa when he introduced himself.
She said Chandrashekhar would call her two to three times a day, always be dressed in designer wear and never repeated his clothes.
While on video calls, he would “call only from one corner of his room which had a curtain backdrop and a sofa,” stating that he had “bad Wi-Fi” in other parts of the room.
However, after she got to know about his criminal past, Fernandez claimed that Irani turned up at her home claiming it was a “misunderstanding” and result of “political rivalry”.
Fernandez told the court: “She was very pushy, persuasive… constantly brainwashing me to believe Sukesh was a very good person. She convinced me that Sukesh was a gentleman and a billionaire.”
Fernandez said she met Chandrashekhar twice in June 2021. The first time, she flew in in a private jet, booked by Chandrashekhar, for a funeral of his uncle. However, she did not attend the funeral when Chandrashekhar claimed that due to some custom, the last rites could not be conducted during the day, she said.
Later, Chandrashekhar took her for a drive around the city. He was armed with 15 bodyguards who followed them in two Range Rovers, Fernandez said.
The actor said that whenever she would try and meet Chandrashekhar’s family, he would make excuses. Fernadez claimed that Chandrashekhar and Irani “used impersonation tactics, fictitious identities and intimidating conduct to mislead her”.
“Sukesh has played with my emotions, made my life hell and ruined my career and livelihood,” Fernandez’s statement read.
Irani’s lawyer R K Handoo told The Indian Express: “Both the actresses have been made witnesses. Irani is also a natural witness in this case. She was promised a CFO position in a news agency and was promised money for introducing him to the actresses. If Irani becomes a witness, the trial can be completed much faster.”
Chandrashekhar’s lawyer Anant Malik denied the allegations stating that his client was innocent.
