Court frames charges against Jacqueline, Sukesh in PMLA case

ANew delhi margaret court on midweek officially framed charges against worker Jacqueline Fernandez, alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar and 16  others in a ₹200-crore money laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Special judge Prashant Sharma of Patiala House Courts framed charges against Chandrasekhar and Fernandez under sections 3 (money laundering) and 4 (punishment) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Both appeared before the court on Wednesday afternoon in response to the summons issued against them, pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. In a separate extortion case being probed by the Delhi Police Crime Branch, the court also framed charges under sections 3 (punishment for organised crime) and 4 (punishment for possessing unaccountable wealth) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against Chandrasekhar and 20 others. “During an in-camera hearing on Wednesday, Chandrasekhar refused to sign the charge documents in the MCOCA case, arguing that a supplementary chargesheet relating to a newly arrested accused, Mohd Navas Ismail, had not yet been filed and that a plea seeking postponement of the order on charge was pending before the Delhi high court,” said Sukesh’s lawyer, advocate Anant Malik .“Co-accused and Chandrasekhar’s wife, Leena Paulose, signed the charge document “under protest”, preserving her right to challenge the charges,” Malik added.On May 30, the court held that there was prima facie sufficient material on record raising a strong suspicion that Chandrasekhar had committed the offence of money laundering under the PMLA.  The court referred to 36 pieces of evidence, including witness testimonies, call detail records and chats recovered from mobile phones, which it said “indicated the generation of proceeds of crime to the tune of ₹215 crores from Aditi Singh and the modus operandi of laundering the money”. The court further held that an equal prima facie suspicion emerged against Fernandez. Referring to her statements recorded under section 50 of the PMLA, the judge noted that “she admitted contact with Sukesh and receiving of gift and money from him”.The court rejected Fernandez’s contention that she could not be prosecuted as she was not an accused in the scheduled offence, calling the argument “meritless”. It observed that it was a settled legal position that a person could be prosecuted under the PMLA even if he or she was not an accused in the predicate offence. “Whether she knew the gifts were proceeds of crime would be decided during trial,” the court said. According to the ED, Chandrasekhar and his associates extorted around ₹200 crore from Aditi Singh, wife of former Ranbaxy promoter Shivinder Singh, in 2020 and 2021 by posing as senior government officials and promising to secure her husband’s release on bail. The agency alleges that the money was laundered through shell companies and that a portion was used to purchase luxury gifts and assets.ED named Fernandez as an accused in its supplementary prosecution complaint of August 17, 2022, alleging that she received gifts worth over ₹7 crore that constituted proceeds of crime. Her counsels have consistently maintained that she was unaware of Chandrasekhar’s alleged criminal activities and that there was an absence of any criminal intent. Earlier this month, the agency opposed her plea to turn approver, contending that she had actively benefited from the proceeds of crime.Chandrasekhar was arrested by the Delhi Police in 2017.