Money laundering case: Jacqueline to appear before Delhi court today
What's the story
In the ongoing money laundering case against multi-millionaire conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez will be appearing before a Delhi court on Saturday for the hearing of her regular bail plea. Last month, the actor was granted interim bail after the court ordered the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file a response to her bail application. Read on for more.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing interrogated Fernandez twice last month in connection to the high-profile extortion case. Allegedly, the main accused, Chandrashekhar, posed as a government official and extorted over Rs. 200cr from Aditi Singh, Religare Enterprises' ex-promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh's wife. Fernandez was also named an accused in August by the ED, claiming that she was aware of the alleged conman's misdeeds.
Details
Bail plea listed for final arguments
According to ETimes, Fernandez's lawyer Prashant Patil said, "We shall be appearing before the Honourable Special Court at Delhi. The matter is listed for final arguments on [her] bail application." Notably, during her previous interrogations by the ED, she had admitted to having received gifts from Chandrashekar. This is considered an offense under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Information
The actor's kin received cash from the accused, too
Earlier, Chandrasekhar's long-term associate Pinky Irani was accused of having delivered the aforementioned gifts to Fernandez as instructed by Chandrasekhar. Apart from these, Chandrasekhar had also reportedly given over Rs. 13cr to a close family member of Fernandez. This money was yielded by Chandrasekhar, along with co-accused Avtar Singh Dolly, through criminal activities like extortion. Allegedly, Dolly is an established international "hawala" operator.
Movies
Fernandez will be next seen in 'Ram Setu'
Meanwhile, on the acting front, Fernandez has three movies in her kitty awaiting release. She will be next seen with Akshay Kumar in Ram Setu, set to release on October 25 during Diwali festivities. She also has a film with Ranveer Singh, titled Cirkus, scheduled for a December 23 release. Fernandez also has a sports action film, Crakk, co-starring Vidyut Jammwal and Arjun Rampal