Jacqueline Fernandez, Sukesh Chandrasekhar to face charges in Rs 200 crore money laundering case

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday ordered the framing of charges against alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, Leena Maria Paul, Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez and others in a money laundering case linked to the alleged extortion of Rs 200 crore from Aditi Singh.Charges have also been framed against Sukesh Chandrasekhar, Leena Maria Paul and others in the MCOCA case linked to the alleged Rs 200 crore extortion. Jacqueline Fernandez is not an accused in the extortion case.Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Prashant Sharma directed that charges be framed against the accused in both cases. "I conclude that prima facie, there is sufficient material on record based upon which a strong suspicion is raised against all accused persons namely, Sukesh Chandrasekhar, Leena Maria Paul alias Leena Paulose, Deepak Ramnani, Pradeep Ramdanee, B. Mohanraj, Arun Muthu, D. Kamlesh Kothari, Pinky Irani, Jacqueline Fernandez, Pooja Singh, Dharam Singh Meena, Mahender Prasad Sundriyal, Sunder Bora, Komal Poddar (15) Jitender Narula, Avinash Kumar, Jai Prakash Singhal, for which said accused persons have to be charged with offence under section 3 of PMLA, punishable under section 4 of PMLA," said ASJ Prashant Sharma while framing charges in the money laundering case.The court has listed the matter for the formal signing of charges on June 3 and directed all accused to appear in person at 2 pm.The Delhi Police had registered a case based on a complaint filed by Aditi Singh. Subsequently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) lodged a money laundering case in connection with the alleged extortion.The Delhi High Court had dismissed Jacqueline Fernandez's plea seeking the quashing of the supplementary charge sheet filed against her by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).After taking cognisance of the ED's charge sheet, the trial court issued summons to Fernandez. She later appeared before the court and was granted bail.Sukesh Chandrasekhar remains in judicial custody. However, his wife, Leena Maria Paul, was granted bail by the High Court in the money laundering case, while her plea for bail in the MCOCA case was rejected by the Delhi High Court.The bail pleas of several other accused are currently pending before the Delhi High Court.Meanwhile, Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez recently withdrew her application seeking to become an approver in the money laundering case.(With agency inputs)