By PTI
NEW DELHI: Alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, an accused in 21 cases including the Election Commission bribery case, told reporters outside a Delhi court on Saturday that he had gifted a luxury car to Bollywood actor Nora Fatehi.
Chandrasekhar made the claim while he was being produced by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) before the court, which sent him and his wife — actor Leena Maria Paul — to judicial custody in a money-laundering case involving alleged extortion of Rs 200 crore from a businessman’s wife here.
The couple allegedly duped former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh’s wife Aditi Singh.
While Chandrasekhar was being taken to the courtroom by ED officials, he was asked by reporters whether he had gifted a car to Fatehi.
To this, he replied, “Yes.”
On further being asked what car had he gifted to the Bollywood actor, Chandrasekhar said, “Why don’t you ask her about it?” The ED recorded Fatehi’s statement on October 14, during which it learnt about the gift from Chandrasekhar, the agency claimed.
Later in the day, Special Judge Parveen Singh sent the couple to judicial custody till November 1 after the ED submitted that it was still investigating the matter to trace the proceeds of crime and ascertain the involvement of others in the offence of money laundering.
The accused, arrested on October 9 in the present case, were produced before the court on the expiry of their custodial interrogation and the ED moved a plea requesting the court to send them to judicial custody.
“Considering the submissions made in the application, accused Sukesh Chandrasekhar and Leena Maria Paul are remanded in judicial custody till November 1, when the other accused are to be produced,” the judge said.
Earlier, the ED had also recorded the statement of actor Jacqueline Fernandez in the case.
The case was filed based on the basis of an FIR lodged by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing on Aditi Singh’s complaint that in June last year, a man posing as a senior law ministry official offered to help secure bail for her husband, who was in jail at the time, in return for money.
Shivinder Singh was arrested for alleged misappropriation of funds in Religare Finvest Limited in 2019.
According to the police, Chandrasekhar had made the phone call to Aditi Singh.
At the time of the incident, Chandrasekhar was lodged in Delhi’s Rohini jail and was running an extortion racket from behind the bars.
The police later arrested two of his associates, who ran the operations for him from outside the prison, and two senior officials of the Rohini jail for aiding Chandrasekhar.
During the investigation, the police had found that a manager of a bank at Connaught Place and two of his associates were involved in dubious transactions for circulation of funds and arrangement of cash.
All three were arrested.
“Chandrasekhar was the mastermind of this fraud. He has been a part of the crime world since the age of 17. He has multiple FIRs against him and is presently lodged in the Rohini jail (in connection with the case lodged by the Delhi Police),” the ED had said.
