NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Wednesday framed charges against actor Jacqueline Fernandez, alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar, along with 15 others in a Rs 200-crore money laundering case, paving the way for the commencement of trial.Chandrashekar, Jacqueline and several other accused appeared in person before the court on Wednesday afternoon.In a separate case registered by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell, the court also framed charges against Chandrashekar and 20 others for multiple offences, including under the stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), news agency PTI reported.All the accused pleaded not guilty and claimed trial before additional sessions judge (ASJ) Prashant Sharma.Earlier, on May 30, the court, through two separate orders, had directed the framing of charges in both cases. The court observed that prima facie sufficient material existed against the accused persons.In the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case, ASJ Sharma had said the accused “have to be charged with the offence (of money laundering) under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA.”In the case initially registered by the Special Cell and later investigated by the Economic Offences Wing, the judge ordered the framing of charges against Chandrashekar for personating a public servant, extortion, cheating, criminal intimidation and criminal conspiracy.The court also charged him with offences under the IT Act and MCOCA provisions for committing organised crime and possessing unaccountable wealth on behalf of an organised crime syndicate. The court also directed that similar charges, barring the offence of impersonating a public servant, be framed against Chandrashekar’s wife, Leena Paulose.The judge further ordered that charges be framed against 17 other accused for various penal offences, including under the IT Act and MCOCA, for committing organised crime. Three others were also directed to be charged with offences of criminal conspiracy and cheating.According to a PTI report, Jacqueline, who was summoned multiple times by the ED during the probe, was named as an accused for the first time in a supplementary chargesheet filed by the agency. In its second supplementary complaint against her, the ED alleged that the actress was in constant contact with Chandrashekar and had received valuable gifts from him through Pinky Irani.According to the prosecution, Chandrashekar operated an organised criminal network from inside jail and impersonated senior government officials. The probe revealed that the operation included officials from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Law and Justice.The ED claimed that Chandrashekar generated proceeds of crime exceeding Rs 200 crore through extortion, cheating, impersonation and criminal intimidation, and subsequently concealed, possessed, transferred, layered and projected the funds as untainted property with the assistance of his associates.The Delhi Police registered a case on the basis of a complaint by Aditi Singh, who alleged that on June 15, 2020, she received a call from a landline number on her mobile phone. According to the complaint filed by Singh, the caller introduced himself as a senior official in the Union law ministry and offered to help resolve legal issues related to her husband and her companies.Police alleged that thereafter, the caller, along with his associates, hatched a conspiracy by impersonating senior government officials and extorted money amounting to around Rs 217 crore on multiple occasions.Following technical surveillance of the mobile phone used by the caller, the extortionist was identified as Chandrashekar. Later, it was revealed that Chandrashekar was already lodged in Rohini jail in connection with a case involving the alleged collection of money from AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran on the promise of helping him retain the ‘two leaves’ party symbol.Chandrashekar was arrested by the Delhi Police in 2017.(With PTI inputs)
