Mumbai: Actress Jacqueline Fernandez has said in a statement recorded before a Delhi court that she was unaware that alleged fraudster Sukesh Chandrashekhar was lodged in a Delhi prison when he made audio and video calls to her between January and August 2021.
Mr Chandrashekhar, she said, misled her into believing that he was in his office at his supposed Noida factory when they were interacting telephonically.
According to the actress, Mr Chandrashekhar always called from a particular corner of the room which had curtains as the backdrop and a sofa. He allegedly said that was the only spot with a Wi-Fi connection good enough for making video calls.
Chandrashekhar never mentioned he was making calls from prison
Referring to the simple nature of the room, he allegedly claimed to be embarrassed by it and that it was not to his standard. At no point during the conversations did he say he was calling from a prison or that he was lodged in jail, she told the court.
The actress’ statements made before the court as well as before the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police are part of the recent supplementary charge sheet submitted to a local court in connection with the Rs 200 crore extortion case in which Mr Chandrashekhar is an accused, sources said. The Free Press Journal was able to access the charge sheet’s contents.
Jacqueline didn't know Chandrashekhar was in prison because he had access to phone and technology
The actress said she could not tell that Mr Chandrashekhar was incarcerated as he seemed to have access to technology and phones throughout the day. In her statement to the EOW, she said it seemed like a normal room from where Mr Chandrashekhar would call and he was always in designer clothes. As Mr Chandrashekhar claimed to be embarrassed by the simplicity of his office, she did not question him further, Ms Fernandez told the EOW.
Chandrashekhar would call her 2/3 times a day
The alleged con man used to make audio/video calls to the actress two or three times a day, in the morning before she left for her shoots, at work during the day, and sometimes at night.
During video calls, he allegedly never repeated his clothes. The actress said he told her he had many coal-mining projects in Noida, and as his father had died a year before, it was his responsibility to finish the project.
Why Jacqueline continued to take gifts from Sukesh even after media reports?
EOW investigators asked why she had continued to receive gifts from Mr Chandrashekhar despite having seen news reports detailing his crimes. She said that when she learned of Mr Chandrashekhar’s past, she stopped talking to him. However, an aide of Mr Chandrashekhar met and persuaded her that he knew him for 12 years and that he was not a criminal. The aide further said the news reports were part of a conspiracy against Mr Chandrashekhar as he hailed from a political family.
The actress said Mr Chandrashekhar tried all means possible to get in touch with her though she was initially not inclined to do so. Later, her make-up artiste told her he had received a call from a central ministry saying Mr Chandrashekhar was an important person. An aide of Mr Chandrashekhar also told her he was a well-known South Indian businessman from a political family. These factors made her get in touch with him, she said.
Chandrashekhar used apps to fake numbers as government numbers
Police have claimed that Mr Chandrashekhar used certain high-end mobile phone applications to spoof the landline numbers of different government authorities to extort large sums of money from individuals while inside Rohini jail, Delhi.
Sukesh introduced himself as owner of Sun TV to Jacqueline
According to Ms Fernandez, Mr Chandrashekhar first spoke to her on Jan 28, 2021, when he introduced himself as ‘Shekhar Ratnavela’, purportedly an owner of Sun TV and nephew of the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. He claimed he was into filmmaking and was a fan of her movies. The actress’s first impression was that he was educated, knowledgeable and respectable. She last spoke to him on Aug 8, 2021.
Jacqueline another victim of the conman
The actress maintained in court that she was just another victim of the alleged con man and his associates, who lied about his identity and exercised undue influence over her by showering her (and her family) with expensive gifts or claiming he had done so, without ever mentioning their source.
She said she did not demand any gifts nor knew these were proceeds of crime. The actress said she was misled into accepting the gifts and attachment proceedings regarding these had already begun.
