Film actress Jacqueline Fernandez was hardly ignorant of conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar's criminal antecedents; she "cooked up a false story" to wriggle out of investigations in a multi-crore money laundering case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in its charge sheet. Her claim that she never knew of Sukesh Chandrashekhar's cases is false, the ED said in the charge sheet. The ED is probing the money trail in the Rs 200 crore extortion case against the conman. It named Jacqueline Fernandez as an accused earlier this month.

Delhi Police had arrested Sukesh Chandrashekhar for allegedly extorting around Rs 215 crore from Aditi Singh and Shivender Singh, the former promoters of pharmaceutical giant Ranbaxy.

"Jacqueline Fernandez was well aware of the criminal antecedents of Sukesh Chandrashekhar and also the fact that Leena Maria Paul is his wife in February 2021," the charge sheet said. "She consciously chose to overlook his criminal past and continued to indulge in financial transactions with him," the ED charge sheet said.

According to the ED, Jacqueline Fernandez's hair stylist Shaan had informed her about the identity and criminal history of Sukesh Chandrashekhar in February 2021. "Despite this, Jacqueline Fernandez ignored this fact and continued the relationship with Sukesh and also received, used and enjoyed the financial benefits from Sukesh, which are nothing but proceeds of crime," the ED charge sheet said.

Jacqueline Fernandez admitted to receiving five watches, 20 pieces of jewellery, 65 pairs of shoes, 47 dresses, 32 bags, 4 Hermes bags, nine paintings and one Versace crockery set as gifts from the conman, according to the charge sheet.

The agency said Sukesh Chandrashekhar had gifted two cars to the parents of Jacqueline Fernandez in April 2021, which she did not disclose during her questioning. Only after being confronted with evidence did she admit that Sukesh had bought her a property at Welgana in Sri Lanka. "Despite being fully aware of his criminal history and that he is lodged in Tihar Jail, Jacqueline Fernandez was knowingly a party or actually involved in the process (money laundering) by using or enjoying the proceeds of crime by the way of valuable gifts," the agency said. She allegedly also requested her staff to delete data on their phone related to the conman.

The ED alleges that Jacqueline Fernandez tried to cover up by constantly stating that she had in fact been a victim of Sukesh. "However, during the investigation, she has failed to provide any substantial material to establish the victimisation by Sukesh," the charge sheet said. She wiped her phone clean, deleting crucial evidence and this counted as tampering with evidence, said the agency.

The charge sheet said Chandrashekhar had given Rs 7.12 crore to the actress — Rs 1.26 crore to her sister in the US, Rs 15 lakh to her brother in Australia and gifts worth Rs 5.71 crore. "The lure of money ensured that the criminal history of the person Jacqueline Fernandez was engaging with did not matter," the ED said in its charge sheet.

When Jacqueline Fernandez was questioned along with the conman, she admitted to receiving from him four bags from Gucci, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, three shoes from Louis Vuitton and Louboutin, two outfits from Gucci, perfumes, four cats, a Mini Cooper, two diamond earrings and a multi-coloured diamond bracelet.

Known for films like Kick, Bhoot Police' and Vikrant Rona, the actress is the only accused named in a supplementary charge sheet. She has said she is a victim of a larger criminal conspiracy and that she was cheated.