Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EoW) grilled actress Nora Fatehi on Friday for over nine hours in its Delhi office in connection with Rs 200 crore extortion case allegedly involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar. During questioning, Nora was asked roughly around 50 questions related to Sukesh Chandrashekhar and the gifts she got from him. Police officials have told that Fatehi, who was summoned on September 2, arrived at the EOW office at Mandir Marg around 11 am. She was accompanied by her lawyer. According to the sources, the actress was questioned till around 8 pm, after which she left. She has been informed that she can be called again for questioning, police sources confirmed.
"She recently returned from Dubai. She was asked questions related to Sukesh Chandrashekhar and the gifts she got from him. She was also asked who all she had met or connected with over the phone during that period," said a senior police officer. Police officials said that questioning so far has surfaced that Nora and Jacqueline Fernandez who has also been linked with Sukesh Chandrashekhar, were both unaware of each other receiving gifts.
Nora was approached by Chandrashekhar's wife Leena Maria Paul, who also was later arrested for her role in the scam. "She had approached Nora through a manager for a nail art function and later both came closer leading to Chandrashekhar gifting Nora a BMW car, expensive phones and other gifts. Nora has also cleared that she did not know Chandrashekhar was in jail or that the gifts are being bought from proceeds of crime. She said she also had not visited Chandrashekhar in jail," the officer said. Earlier, the enforcement directorate (ED) also recorded statements of Fatehi on September 13 and October 14, 2021, where also she acknowledged having received gifts from the alleged conman and his actor wife Leena. ED had registered a case of money laundering in the alleged scam over the FIR registered by the Delhi Police. Other than Nora, actress Jacqueline Fernandez's name has also surfaced in the scam where she has been named as an accused by the ED. Meanwhile, ED had earlier stated that Fernandez's statements were recorded on August 30 and October 20, 2021, where she admitted to having received gifts from Chandrashekar.
Reportedly, the charge sheet filed by ED against Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez clearly stated that 'she consciously chose to overlook his (Sukesh Chandrashekhar) criminal past and continued to indulge in financial transactions with him. Not only she but also her family members and friends have benefited from the relationship financially. ED also concluded that the lure of money ensured that the criminal history of the person she was engaging with did not matter.
ED also said that Fernandez had used proceeds of crime and valuable gifts bought using it for herself and her family members in India as well as abroad and that this 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 over 10 criminal cases have been registered against him.
Chandrashekhar has been accused of running an extortion racket worth Rs 200 crore when he was lodged in Rohini jail, from Aditi Singh, the wife of jailed former Ranbaxy owner Shivinder Singh, posing as officials from the union law ministry and the PMO, on the pretext of getting her husband out on bail.