ED examines Jacqueline Fernandez as witness in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recorded the statement of actor Jacqueline Fernandez on Monday in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, officials said. They said the 36-year-old actor was examined for four hours here as a witness in the case, and her statement was recorded under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The questioning of the actor was done in connection with the money laundering probe being conducted against Chandrasekhar, who is an accused in an alleged multi-crore extortion racket. The ED last week had raided some of his premises and seized a sea-facing bungalow in Chennai, Rs 82.5 lakh cash, and over a dozen luxurious cars. It had claimed in a statement that Chandrasekhar is a “known conman,” and is being probed by the Delhi Police in a case of alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating, and extortion to the tune of about Rs 200 crore. “Chandrasekhar is the mastermind of this fraud. He has been part of the crime world since the age of 17. He has multiple FIRs against him, and is presently lodged in Rohini jail (in connection with the Delhi Police case),” the ED had said. Despite being in the jail, it said, Chandrasekhar “did not stop conning” people. “He (with a cellphone procured illegally in the prison), with the help of technology, made spoofed calls to dupe people as the numbers displayed on the called party’’s phone number belonged to senior government officers. While speaking (from the prison) to these persons, he claimed to be a government officer offering to help people for a price,” the ED had claimed. Chandrasekhar was arrested in 2017 for allegedly taking money from TTV Dhinakaran to bribe Election Commission officials to get the AIADMK ‘two leaves’ symbol for the Sasikala faction in a by-election to the RK Nagar Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu. Early this month, he was arrested from Rohini jail for allegedly running an extortion racket from behind bars.