'She was in connivance with Sukesh': Why court called Jacqueline Fernandez accused, not victim in ₹200 cr extortion case

ON sat, a new delhi margaret court directed that charges be framed against Bollywood worker Jacqueline Fernandez and others in a money laundering caseful linked with conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar. Since the case had been exposed, Jacqueline had maintained that she was a victim, not a willing participant in the scam. But the court noted that there is prima facie sufficient material to indicate that Jacqueline Fernandez received luxurious gifts from Sukesh Chandrasekhar despite being aware of his criminal activities.‘She was in connivance with Sukesh Chandrasekhar’On Saturday, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Prashant Sharma of Patiala House Court directed that charges be framed against all the accused in the ₹200 crore money laundering and extortion case linked to Sukesh Chandrashekhar.While framing charges, the court spoke about Jacqueline's alleged involvement. “She was in connivance with Sukesh Chandrasekhar to conceal the use of proceeds of crime (POC),” the court stated.The court noted that the allegations against Jacqueline were that she received gifts worth ₹5.71 crore from Sukesh Chandrasekhar, knowing of his criminal past through the accused Pinky Irani and Leepakshi Ellawadi. It is also alleged that she received $172K (over ₹1.4 crore) into the foreign bank account of her sister, Geraldine J Walker, and Australian $26K (over ₹10 lakh) into the foreign bank account of her brother, Warren J Fernandez.What are the charges against JacquelineWhile framing the charges, ASJ Prashant Sharma said, “I conclude that prima facie there is sufficient material on record, raising a strong suspicion that the accused Jacqueline Fernandez committed the offence under section 3 of PMLA, punishable under section 4 of PMLA.”The court also observed, “During the recording of the statement, Jacqueline Fernandez and, upon being confronted with evidence of the purchase of cars for the parents of Jacqueline, recovered from the mobile of Pinki, she admitted to receiving cars from her parents, which indicated her connivance with the accused Sukash for concealing the use of POC, which was to buy the cars for her parents.”The court said that Jacqueline Fernandez was fully aware of Sukesh's criminal activities. It added that some of the accused had sent Jacqueline a news article mentioning Sukesh's involvement in various offences, including the TTV Dinakaran Bribery Case, the Canara Bank Fraud Case and defrauding people in the name of investment in their bogus firms on the promise of high returns. However, she received proceeds of crime in the form of luxurious gifts, payments to her brother, and a car gifted to her parents.