Mumbai: Actress Nora Fatehi and Jacqueline Fernandez has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the money laundering case against con artists Sukesh Chandrasekar and Leena Paul.
The arrests were made by Delhi police of Chandrasekar and Paul for allegedly duping the family of Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Singh of around ₹ 200 crore.
An FIR accusing Sukesh Chandrasekar and Leena Paul of criminal conspiracy, cheating, and extortion led to the summons by the agency.
Agency sources say Ms Fatehi has been called to ascertain connections to the accused.
The case was filed based on a complaint by Shivinder Singh’s wife, Aditi Singh, who said a man posing as a senior Law Ministry official offered to help get bail for Mr Singh (then in jail) in return for money.
Ms Singh said she had paid out ₹ 200 crore over 30 instalments and was told the money was meant for BJP party funds, and that Home Minister Amit Shah was on her side.
At the time of the incident, Chandrasekhar, accused in 21 cases, was lodged in Delhi’s Rohini jail and was running an extortion racket from behind the bars.
Yesterday his remand was extended by 11 days, and that of Leena Paul by 16 days.
The agency told the court Chandrasekar knowingly financial structures for layering and transferring proceeds of the couple’s crimes and had thus actively participated in the process of money laundering.
In August the central agency said it had seized a sea-facing bungalow in Chennai, ₹ 82.5 lakh in cash, and over a dozen luxury cars in connection with the case against him.
In addition, goods worth ₹ 20 crore – ranging from shoes, bags, and clothes by international brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton – have also been seized.
Last month a second Bollywood actor, Jacqueline Fernandez, had also been summoned for questioning, but she skipped her summons. It would have been the second time Ms Fernandez was questioned in this case; in August she was questioned for over five hours.
Sources said Chandrasekar had been in touch with the actor, who is from Sri Lanka, through calls and messages, and the agency wanted to question her on this subject.
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