ED opposes Jacqueliene Fernandez's plea for quashing of money laundering case, accuses her of tampering with evidence

Actor Jacqueliene Fernandez, who is accused in a Rs 200 crore money laundering case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekar, sought a plea in Delhi High Court for the cancellation of an FIR lodged against her. In the latest development, the Enforcement Directorate has opposed the plea citing that the actress was knowingly involved in the possession and use of proceeds of crime of the conman.

ED told the Delhi High Court that Jacqueliene concealed the facts until confronted with evidence. She also tampered with the evidence and deleted all the data from the phone after the arrest of Sukesh. The probe agency submitted that she was not able to furnish any substantial evidence to establish her claim that she was a victim of the conman. The ED said that she was aware about conman’s criminal intentions and continued to have a relationship with him despite knowing about his wife Leena Maria Paul.

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The probe agency said, "She continues to hold back the truth even till date. It is also a fact that Fernandez wiped out the entire data from her mobile phone after the arrest of Sukesh Chandrasekhar, thereby tampering with the evidence. She also asked her colleagues to destroy the evidence. Evidence proves beyond doubt that she had been enjoying, using and is in possession of the proceeds of crime,” PTI reported. The ED has claimed that the plea moved by Jacqueliene is not maintainable. Meanwhile, Jacqueline Fernandez's counsel sought time to file a reply in response to the ED's contention. The matter will be next heard by the High Court on April 15.

Also read: Conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar promises to celebrate Jacqueliene Fernandez's next birthday together in a poetic love letter

Meanwhile, Jacqueliene in her plea submitted that being in the public eye and being labelled as money laundering is problematic. She had stated there is absolutely no indication that she had any involvement whatsoever in aiding Sukesh to launder his purportedly ill-gotten wealth. She also claimed that ED has acted in a partisan manner by giving a clean chit to Nora Fatehi despite her receiving a gift from the conman. Even other artists like Nikita Tamboli, Chahatt Khanna, and Sophyia Singh, were not put on trial despite their involvement.