Conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar had allegedly promised an amount of at least Rs 10 crore (100 million) to his aide Pinky Irani to befriend actor Jacqueline Fernandez, investigators probing the Rs 200 crore scam have found.
According to the supplementary chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) against Irani, she had knowingly and actively connived with Chandrashekhar to build his “larger-than-life” image that aided him in pulling off the multi-crore scam, officials told CNN-News18.
“An amount of at least Rs 10 crore was promised to Irani by Sukesh to get Jacqueline Fernandez. She was tasked with befriending her and bringing her into his contact, by making her believe that he is a businessman. As they had other actresses on target, different amount was promised to Irani for each of them. We have managed to trace bank transactions of Rs 80 lakh so far. Money was paid to her on several occasions, even in cash,” said an officer privy to the developments, seeking anonymity.
This is the first time Pinky Irani has been named as an accused in a chargesheet in the Rs 215 crore scam. She was earlier a suspect and was summoned multiple times previously before being arrested by the Delhi Police. Irani is being charged under the stringent MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act), among other sections.
“During investigation, when she was confronted with evidence, Irani confessed that she used to get paid to approach actresses at the behest of Sukesh Chandrashekhar and his wife Leena Maria Paul,” the officer added.
Paul, a former actress, has also been arrested in this case. Chandrashekhar has been accused of posing as senior bureaucrats and extorting a sum of at least Rs 215 crore from Aditi Singh on the pretext of securing bail for her jailed husband Shivinder Singh, a former promoter of pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy.
A native of Bengaluru in Karnataka, Chandrashekhar is currently lodged in a Delhi jail and faces over 10 criminal cases.
Delhi Police had earlier also summoned Sri Lankan actress and model Fernandez in the probe as she is being investigated over allegations of receiving luxury gifts from Chandrashekhar bought using the proceeds of crime.
In their investigation Delhi Police had also found that it was Irani who used to accompany actresses who had allegedly met Chandrashekhar even when he was lodged in Tihar Jail. He was introduced as a businessman and used to meet actresses in a room which he referred to as his office.
It was also alleged that the actresses and Irani underwent no checks before entering the jail and no diary entries were made on their names.
Earlier, when Irani was in police custody, she was also taken to Tihar Jail and the police, in order to establish lapses, reconstructed how she entered the premises with the actresses. At least four actresses had met Chandrashekhar when he was lodged at Tihar.
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