ED attaches assets worth Rs 7.27 cr of Jacqueline Fernandez in extortion case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 7.27 crore of Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez in an extortion case. According to the officials, the assets were attached under the anti-money laundering law in connection with its criminal probe against alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar and others.

The ED has estimated that conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar had given gifts worth Rs 5.71 crore to Fernandez. 

It is alleged that Chandrashekhar to purchase gifts for Fernandez used illegal money, extorted by cheating high-profile people including former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh's wife Aditi Singh.

Sukesh had also given funds to the tune of US $1,72,913 and Australian $26,740 to Fernandez's close family members. The attached assets also include a fixed deposit worth Rs 7.12 crore from Jacqueline Fernandez.

Some gifts and fixed deposits are understood to have been attached by the federal probe agency after a provisional order was issued by it under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The 36-year-old actor is a Sri Lankan national and she has been questioned in this case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) several times.

The actor told the ED, in her statement recorded in August and October last year, that she "received" gifts like three designer bags from Gucci, Chanel, two Gucci outfits for gym wear, a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes, two pairs of diamond earrings and a bracelet of multi-coloured stones and two Hermes bracelets from Chandrashekhar. 

She told the federal anti-money laundering agency that she returned a Mini Cooper car that she had similarly received. The agency found in its probe that Chandrashekhar was in "regular contact" with Fernandez since February till he got arrested on August 7 last year (by the Delhi Police). He was later arrested by the ED too. 

(With inputs from agencies)