Jacqueline Fernandez says she was conned and manipulated by conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar

Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez has responded to Enforcement Directorate, saying she was "conned and manipulated by Sukesh Chandrasekhar" and asked the authorities to release her assets, reported The Indian Express. 

In her reply to a notice issued following the provisional attachment order before the appellate authority of PMLA in New Delhi, Fernandez said, “Just because she is (a) recipient of certain gifts which were forced on her for forming a connect, can’t be used to ignore the fact which the record otherwise clearly shows that she was conned by Sukesh Chandrasekhar. The approach of ED, unfortunately, seems to be highly mechanical and motivated, hence, blinded towards the fact that respondent (Jacqueline) has lost more than what can be measured in money”.

Asserting that she was a victim of manipulation, for which the ED should take a humane approach, the Kick star has said “what she has lost and suffered as a woman cannot be calculated in monetary terms”. About the FDs attached by ED, the actor said these were created through reinvestment of maturity proceeds of already existing FDs and “was her professionally earned income generated through blood and sweat and working in the industry for so long”.

Fernandez also accused ED of mala fide. “What is surprising is that like the respondent (Jacqueline), some other celebrities, notably Norah Fatehi were also conned by Chandrasekhar and Fatehi and other such celebrities who received gifts from the accused, are made witnesses whereas she is sought to be dragged as an accused. This clearly shows a malafide, motivated and biased approach on the part of investigation authority which cannot be ignored,” the actor added.

She said she was lured into forming a connect with Chandrasekhar, but never abetted his activities. To lure her, Jacqueline says, Chandrasekhar used Pinki Irani alias Angel (another accused) to connect with her and claimed himself to be the “nephew of Jayalalitha (former chief minister of Tamil Nadu) and owns Sun TV”.

Claiming that Chandrasekhar insisted on showering her with gifts despite her repeated refusals, the Sri Lankan citizen, who moved to India to work in Bollywood, said “he would just go on rampage and if not accepted by the respondent, he would just instruct his men to leave the gifts with the watchmen or outside the gate”, adding that she never had an opportunity to check the source of these gifts.

Pointing to ED’s charges against Chandrasekhar, who allegedly cheated the rich of INR2 billion by impersonating an influential person having political connections including in the Union home ministry, Fernandez said: “the conduct of accepting gifts from a person who had impersonated himself makes her a victim and maximum a prosecution witness”.

Previously, Fernandez has been named as an accused in the charge sheet in the alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar's INR2 billion extortion case.

According to a report by the Times of India, the Bachchhan Paandey actor may not be arrested immediately as the court is yet to take notice of the charge sheet. However, she may not be allowed to travel outside India. It is also alleged that Fernandez spoke to Chandrasekhar while he was in jail.

Fernandez has been under investigation for the extortion case since December 2021. The investigation is being carried out by the law enforcement agency Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has questioned Fernandez on several occasions before on her relationship with Chandrashekhar, including for over ten hours on December 9.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the agency believes she is a "beneficiary" of Chandrashekhar's suspected extortion schemes, which he reportedly executed by defrauding money from several high-profile individuals. The report elaborates that during the alleged relationship between Chandrasekhar and Fernandez, he gifted the Miss Universe contender many expensive gifts, including designer handbags and jewellery.

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