On Wednesday, a Delhi Court heard arguments from Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez’s lawyer in a case related to money laundering involving conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar. This case is about a Rs 200 crore (Rs 200 crore) money laundering scheme, where Jacqueline is accused of receiving expensive gifts that were allegedly part of the proceeds of crime. Her lawyers have challenged the charges in the case, arguing that Jacqueline was unaware of the illegal source of the gifts she received.
Jacqueline’s lawyer argued in court that she did not know that the gifts given to her by Sukesh Chandrasekhar came from a crime. According to her legal team, the actress was not involved in the illegal activity and did not know that the gifts were part of the money that Sukesh allegedly extorted from Aditi Singh. The lawyer further claimed that there was no evidence to suggest that Jacqueline was aware of the criminal origins of the gifts.
During the court session, Justice Anish Dayal asked whether it is the responsibility of an adult person to check the source of the gifts they receive. This question is important because it could help decide whether Jacqueline should have known the gifts were linked to a crime. The next hearing in this case is scheduled for November 26, when the court will hear more arguments.
Siddharth Agrawal, the senior lawyer representing Jacqueline, argued that there was no crime committed by her because she did not knowingly receive proceeds from illegal activities. He explained that although Jacqueline did see a newspaper article in 2019 about Sukesh Chandrasekhar, she did not take the article seriously or investigate further. He also pointed out that there is no legal requirement for Jacqueline to have verified the information in the article.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is investigating the case, has claimed that Jacqueline should have been aware of the criminal nature of the gifts she received. The ED alleges that she failed to investigate the source of the gifts, and by doing so, she may have been involved in the crime. However, Jacqueline’s lawyer argued that she was misled by Sukesh’s associate, Pinky Irani, who convinced her that Sukesh had powerful political connections. He suggested that Jacqueline was unaware of Sukesh’s criminal background and had stopped communicating with him after seeing the article.
The lawyer also emphasized that Jacqueline never directly asked for the gifts and did not knowingly participate in any illegal activities. The defense argued that Jacqueline is being made a scapegoat because of Sukesh’s political connections, and that she was simply misled by him and his associates.
Meanwhile, Sukesh Chandrasekhar, who is currently in jail on charges of extorting Rs 200 crore, sent a handwritten letter to congratulate Donald Trump on his victory in the US presidential election. In this letter, Sukesh also mentioned his relationship with Jacqueline and expressed his plans to invest Rs 1130 crore (about $135 million) into a Los Angeles studio, which he claimed would be dedicated to her.
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