Sukesh Chandrashekhar's aide Pinky Irani joins Delhi Police probe

Pinky Irani, who had apparently introduced Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez to conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, arrived at the office of the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police on Wednesday after being summoned in connection with the Rs 200 crore money laundering case.

The EOW has summoned Pinky Irani to join the investigation.

The Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police will on Wednesday also question Jacqueline Fernandez in connection with the Rs 200 crore extortion case allegedly involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar.

A senior police officer told ANI that Jacqueline has been summoned to join the investigation at the EOW office at Mandir Marg today.

The official said that they have prepared a list of questions to be answered by Jacqueline. The questions were based on her relationship with Sukesh and the gifts she got from him. She will also be quizzed how many times she had met or contacted Sukesh over the phone during that period, the officer added.

Irani had apparently helped Sukesh to contact Jacqueline Fernandez as she knew both of them.

According to sources, Pinky and Jacqueline might be confronted during questioning to get more clarity in the case. Jacqueline has been communicated that her investigation might stretch for a couple of days or back to back and hence told to plan her stay in Delhi accordingly.

Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) named Jacqueline in their chargesheet in the money laundering case that involves Sukesh.

The probe agency chargesheet stated that Jacqueline knew about Sukesh's involvement in criminal cases but she chose to overlook his criminal past and got involved in financial transactions with him.

"The set of questions prepared for Jacqueline is different from that which were asked to Nora Fatehi, who was earlier called for questioning in the case," said another officer.

The police have to also find out if both the actresses involved in the case were aware of each other receiving gifts, the officer added.

In September-October 2021, the enforcement agency recorded statements of Fatehi where she acknowledged having received gifts from the alleged conman and his actor wife Leena.

ED had registered a money laundering case in the alleged scam over the FIR registered by the Delhi Police. The agency had earlier stated that Fernandez's statements were recorded on August 30 and October 20, 2021, where she admitted to having received gifts from Sukesh.

It also said that Fernandez had used proceeds of crime and bought valuable gifts using it for herself and her family members in India as well as abroad which amounts to an offence of money laundering under section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar, a native of Bengaluru in Karnataka, is currently lodged in a Delhi jail and faces over 10 criminal cases registered against him.

Chandrashekhar has been accused of extorting Rs 200 crore when he was lodged in Rohini jail, from Aditi Singh, the wife of jailed former Ranbaxy owner Shivinder Singh, while posing as an official of the union law ministry and the PMO, on the pretext of getting her husband out on bail.

(ANI)

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