Sukesh Chandrashekhar, who is facing several cases including the Rs 200-crore money laundering matter, has denied charges of extortion adding that he is not a "conman".
The press statement has been released by his lawyer Advocate Anant Malik in which Chandrashekhar has asked why was Shivinder Singh's wife Aditi Singh was not probed if she paid Rs 200 crores as extortion.
Sukesh said a lot is being said and dictated about him adding that it is wrong to say that he is a "conman" or "Thug" as he has not been convicted yet.
Sukesh also alleged that he paid crores to senior jail officials but investigating agencies never probed them. He again claimed that he was in a relationship with Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez and his personal relationship has no bearing on the criminal case.
He also claimed that he is being pressured and extorted by jail officials but no action was taken against the officers involved. Sukesh said that he will be approaching court against ED seizure of assets.
Advocate Anant Malik and Advocate Rohan Yadav are representing him in money laundering and other cases registered by Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Economics Offence Wings (EOW).
Sukesh further claimed that he is a corporate lobbyist and has worked with multiple corporate houses nationally and internationally being a bridge between corporate houses and Governments of different states. He claimed to have good relationships with several political parties and various business families.
The ED's chargesheet in connection with Rs 200 crore money laundering case stated that Leena Maria Paulose, wife of Sukesh Chandrashekhar is a master con woman and strategist and the brain and main actor behind the schemes devised to launder the proceeds of crime.
The chargesheet stated that Paulose denied transactions even when confronted with evidence. She had deleted all evidence as soon as the news of the arrest of Sukesh Chandrashekhar reached her.
Recently in the case, Pinki Irani, arrested by the ED, who introduced Chandrashekhar to Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez. Both Irani and Chandrashekhar were learnt to be confronted on the same set of questions separately as well as together for more than three hours in the Jail, said the source. Earlier, the ED also confronted Irani with Fernandez.
The ED earlier questioned Fernandez in Rs 200 crore money laundering case linked to Chandrashekhar. Another Actor Nora Fatehi was also questioned by the ED in connection with the case.
ED is looking into various people who are directly or indirectly connected to this case.
Reports suggest that the ED is looking into the possibility that money was invested abroad and it was led by Chandrashekhar, who is accused in 21 cases.
The above ED case is based on an FIR filed by Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) against Sukesh Chandrashekhar who is accused of cheating and extorting Aditi Singh, wife of the former promoter of Religare Enterprises Shivinder Mohan Singh, who was arrested in October 2019 in a case related to alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd.
Chandrashekhar and his associates reportedly took money from Aditi after posing as government officials and promising to get bail for her husband. Chandrashekhar reportedly persuaded Aditi to transfer money by impersonating a central government official over a spoof call while he was lodged in Rohini jail and promised to manage bail for her husband.
Both Chandrashekhar and his actor wife Leena Maria Paul were arrested by the Delhi Police in September last for their alleged role in the duping case. The Delhi Police has arrested 13 people in connection with the case so far. The ED suspects that Chandrashekhar had extorted money from several people while he was in jail.
In October, the ED officials had conducted raids at Chandrashekhar's sea-facing bungalow in Chennai and had found a fleet of 16 luxury cars worth crores of rupees.
At the time of the incident, Chandrashekhar was lodged in Delhi's Rohini jail and was running an extortion racket from behind the bars.
In September, the ED had arrested two aides of the jailed conman against whom the Delhi Police recently invoked stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Chandrashekhar was allegedly running the cheating and extortion racket in connivance with jail officials and some associates outside.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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