Sukesh Chandrashekhar’s wife Leena Maria a ‘master con woman’, deleted evidence: ED

ED has already questioned Jacqueline Fernandez, Nora Fatehi in the case

leena-maria Leena Maria Paul

Actress Leena Maria Paul, wife of Sukesh Chandrashekhar—key accused in a Rs 200 crore money laundering case—is a master con woman and strategist herself, the Enforcement Directorate has said. In its charge-sheet, the ED stated that Leena is the "brain behind the schemes devised to launder the proceeds of crime", ANI reported.

The report also added that Leena deleted all evidence as soon as she learnt of Sukesh’s arrest. On Friday, Sukesh was confronted with his alleged aide Pinky Irani, who reportedly introduced him to actress Jacqueline Fernandez, News18 reported. The ED has already questioned Jacqueline and actress Nora Fatehi in the case filed by former Ranbaxy promoter Shivinder Singh's wife Aditi Singh who claimed that Sukesh conned her of Rs 200 crore pretending to be a government official.

According to reports, the ED is likely to summon more Bollywood celebrities in connection with case.

Jacqueline and Nora received luxury cars, phones and other expensive gifts from conman Sukesh and Leena, the ED told a Delhi court in its charge-sheet earlier. The ED claimed that she received gifts like designer bags from Gucci and Chanel, two Gucci gym wear outfits, a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes, two pairs of diamond earrings and a bracelet of multi- coloured stones and two Hermes bracelets. The agency further claimed that Sukesh gifted a BMW car to Norah in December 2020 and later gave her Rs 75 lakh, besides other expensive gifts.

The ED recently arrested Sukesh, Leena and other accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). They were earlier arrested by Delhi Police. Police have recently also invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the case. The Delhi Police had alleged that the couple with others used Hawala routes, created shell companies to park the money earned from proceeds of crime. 

-with PTI inputs