A Delhi court on Saturday ordered framing of charges against actress Jacqueline Fernandez, alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, his wife Leena Maria Paul alias Leena Paulos and several others in a ₹200-crore money-laundering case linked to an alleged extortion racket.
Additional sessions judge Prashant Sharma held that there was “prima facie sufficient material” on record to raise a “strong suspicion” against all accused and directed framing of charges under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The persons “have to be charged with the offence (of money laundering) under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, punishable under Section 4 of PMLA”, the judge said. The court has listed the matter on June 3 for the formal framing of charges.
The case stems from allegations that Chandrasekhar extorted money from Aditi Singh, the wife of former Ranbaxy promoter Shivinder Singh, by impersonating government officials and promising assistance in legal matters.
The Enforcement Directorate, which arrested Chandrasekhar in 2021, alleged that the extorted money was used to purchase property, high-end luxury vehicles, expensive and luxurious gifts, among others. The ED alleged that the crime proceeds were routed through various bank accounts, hawala channels, cash deliveries and shell entities.
Fernandez has been named as an accused in the second supplementary chargesheet filed by the probe agency after finding that she was in constant touch with Chandrashekhar and had allegedly received valuable gifts from him through one Pinky Irani, another accused.