Jacqueline Fernandez has been in legal trouble in relation to the Rs 200 crore money laundering case of Sukesh Chandrasekhar. Ever since the case came to light, the actress has maintained that she was a victim of Sukesh’s fraud and had no role in the alleged scam. However, according to the latest update on the matter, the court found that there was prima facie material to suggest that she had accepted expensive gifts from Sukesh despite knowing his criminal record.Patiala House Court Additional Judge (ASJ) Prashant Sharma ordered the framing of charges against all the accused in the case. While discussing Jacqueline’s alleged role, the court observed, “There was connivance with Sukesh Chandrasekhar to conceal the use of proceeds of crime (POC).”According to the court, Jacqueline is accused of receiving gifts worth Rs 5.71 crore from Sukesh Chandrasekhar even after her criminal antecedents were disclosed by accused Pinky Irani and Leepakshi Ellawadi. Investigators also alleged that $172,000 (over 1.4 million) was transferred to the overseas bank account of his sister, Geraldine J Walker, and 26,000 Australian dollars (over 10 lakh) was deposited into the account of his brother, Warren J Fernandez.Explaining the basis for framing the charges, ASJ Sharma stated, “Prima facie I find that there is sufficient material on record to raise a strong suspicion that accused Jacqueline Fernandez has committed the offense under Section 3 of the PMLA, punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA.”The court also referred to the luxury vehicles that Jacqueline allegedly bought for her parents using the proceeds of crime. “While recording the statement, Jacqueline Fernandez and, faced with the evidence of purchase of cars for Jacqueline’s parents, recovered from Pinki’s mobile, admitted that she had received the cars from her parents, which indicated that she had concealed the use of POC with accused Sukash, i.e. buying the cars for her parents.“The judge also found that Jacqueline knew about Sukesh’s alleged criminal activities. He said he was sent a news release detailing his alleged involvement in several cases, including the TTV Dinakaran bribery case, the Canara Bank fraud case and schemes in which investors were allegedly duped by bogus companies promising high returns. However, the court heard that he allegedly continued to receive the proceeds of crime in the form of luxury gifts, money transfers to his siblings and a car bought for his parents.
