Dancer Nora Fatehi who is being questioned as a witness in a Rs 200 crore money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate was gifted with a luxury car by a conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, claimed his lawyer Anant Malik.
Sukesh Chandrasekhar is being investigated for cheating and extortion and running the business from behind Delhi’s Tihar jail. He is accused in 21 cases and on Saturday, outside the Delhi court admitted to the media that he had gifted a BMW car to actress Nora Fatehi.
The claim was made when Chandrasekhar was being produced before the court by the ED that has sent him and his wife Leena Maria Paul to judicial custody till November 1 in a money laundering case. The case involves alleged extortion of ₹ 200 crores from a businessman's wife.
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While the accused was taken to the courtroom by the ED officials, Chandrasekhar was asked by the reporters if he had gifted a car to Nora Fatehi? To which he replied, "Yes.” and then in return he told the reporters, "Why don't you ask her about it?"
Earlier, in the court, Sukesh's lawyer said, "Nora Fatehi claims to be a victim but she was gifted a BMW car. Apart from that Jacqueline and Sukesh were dating, these are my instructions... This is straight from the horse’s mouth. They are the ultimate beneficiaries, that is why they are being called for questioning".
Nora Fatehi’s statement was recorded by the ED on October 14 after it learnt that there was a gift presented to the actress by Chandrasekhar.
"On behalf of Nora Fatehi, we would like to clarify the various conjectures floating around amongst the media. Nora Fatehi has been the victim around the case and being a witness, she is co-operating and helping the officers in the investigation," Nora Fatehi's team stated on October 15.
"She does not know or have any personal connection with the accused and has been called by ED to strictly help with the investigation. We would like to request our fellow friends in the media to refrain from slandering her name and making any statements before any official information is released," added her representative in the statement.
The car worth crores were gifted to Nora Fatehi by Sukesh using the money extorted from a businessman’s wife while the conman was inside the jail, the agency said.
While Ms Fatehi in her statement to the ED has said that she was invited by Sukesh’s wife and actor Leena Maria Paul to attend an event in December 2020 in Chennai.
ED had also summoned actor Jacqueline Fernandez and recorded her statement in the laundering case.
Delhi police had arrested Sukesh Chandrasekhar and his wife Leena Paul over alleged duping a family of Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Singh of around Rs. 200 crores. Sukesh’s premises were raided in August by ED and a sea-facing bungalow in Chennai, ₹82.5 lakh cash and over a dozen luxury cars were seized by the agency.