Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez, an accused in the Rs 200 crore money laundering case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, tried to flee India and destroy evidences in the case, the Enforcement Directorate told a Delhi court on Saturday. The agency further alleged that the actor was not cooperating with the investigation.
Additional Sessions Judge Shailender Malik was hearing Jacqueline's regular bail application, when the agency claimed that the actor wanted to leave India, but could not do so as her name was on the lookout circular. It further told the court that Jacqueline had tampered with evidence during the investigation by deleting data from her mobile phone.
Advocate Prashant Patil, appearing for the actor, dismissed ED's allegations and said she had always cooperated with the investigation agencies and attended all the summons to date.
"She has handed over all the information to the best of her ability to the ED,” he said.
After hearing both sides, the court extended the interim bail granted to Jacqueline till November 10 and also directed ED to provide the chargesheet and other relevant documents to all parties.
The actor, who was granted interim bail in the case on September 26 on a bond of ₹ 50,000, attended the court proceedings physically on Saturday.
The ED in its chargesheet had named Jacqueline as an accused in the multi-crore money laundering case linked to Sukesh, and said the actor is "directly or indirectly involved in the proceeds of crime".
According to the ED, the actor accepted gifts worth crores of rupees from Sukesh who is accused of cheating many people, including high-profile individuals such as former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh's wife Aditi Singh.
In September, Jacqueline had appeared before the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police for a second time for her alleged role in the case. She was also quizzed for over eight hours along with Pinki Irani, the person who allegedly introduced the actor to Chandrashekhar, in the same month.
The EOW had also questioned Jacqueline's stylist Leepakshi Ellawadi.
