Not just Jacqueline Fernandez and Nora Fatehi, conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar had also had interactions with Bollywood stars like Sara Ali Khan, Janhvi Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar.
Recent reports state that the three Bollywood stars were in the crosshairs of the jailed con artist in recent years. Chandrasekhar had reportedly offered luxury cars as gifts to these actresses – a new charge sheet filed by the enforcement Directorate states.
ED alleges that Sukesh Chandrasekhar’s close aide Pinky Irani, also known as Angel, 53, approached actors and models and even took some of them to Tihar Jail to meet him.
Irani had been arrested by the agency in December last year and was recently granted bail by a Delhi court. She has been accused of money laundering and helping Chandrasekhar establish contact with actor Jacqueline Fernandez and sending her expensive gifts on his behalf.
A supplementary charge sheet, detailing the role of Mumbai-based Irani in the money laundering case against Chandrasekhar, was filed by the Enforcement Directorate earlier this month before a court.
In the prosecution complaint, ED has attached replies sent to it by Bollywood actors Bhumi Pednekar, Sara Ali Khan and Janhvi Kapoor, who were similarly approached by Chandrasekhar allegedly through Irani.
Investigators found that Chandrasekhar, while he was at Delhi’s Rohini jail, allegedly ran an extortion racket using phone spoofing technology. He was later shifted to the Tihar jail.
The ED has named the actresses and models are witnesses and not as accused in the case.
According to the charge sheet filed, Bhumi Pednekar stated that Irani messaged her saying she was the “vice president (of) HR News Express Post and informed her that their group chairman (Chandrasekhar) is a fan of hers and wanted to speak with her about a huge project and also wanted to gift her a car.” Pednekar was questioned earlier this year.
Pednekar stated that she did not receive any gift from Chandrasekhar or Irani nor had she ever met them or had “any sort of personal interaction, either social or professional, with them.”
Sara Ali Khan told the ED that she did not know anyone by the name of Sukesh Chandrasekhar but someone in the name of “Mr Suraj Reddy did WhatsApp her on 21.05.2021saying he would like to gift her a car as a family gesture and mentioned that his CEO Mrs Irani had tried to contact her.”
Khan revealed that Reedy continued to insist on giving her gifts and she refused the same.
“However, after many attempts of refusing him, she did agree on receiving a box of chocolates from him and thereafter he sent a Franck Muller watch along with the chocolates,” the ED said.
Meanwhile, Janhvani Kapoor revealed she was contacted by a lady who identified herself as Leena for a Nail art company called Nail Artistry. Kapoor was approached to be a celebrity guest at the launch of a salon in Bengaluru.
She wrote to ED stating that she inaugurated the salon in July last year and received a Christian Dior luxury bag and a professional fee of ₹ 18.94 lakh in her bank account. She sent a statement of the transaction to the ED.
Nail Artistry is stated to be the business enterprise of Leena Maria Paul, Chandrasekhar’s wife.
Earlier in December 2021, Jacqueline Fernandez appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at its office in Delhi on Wednesday in connection with Rs 200 crore extortion case involving the conman.