New Delhi, The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday opposed actor Jacqueline Fernandez‘s plea seeking to turn approver in a Rs 200 crore money laundering case involving alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar, saying she remained in contact with the accused despite knowing his criminal antecedents.
Earlier, Special Judge Prashant Sharma had sought a response from ED on the actor’s plea.
In its response, the agency said, “The applicant (Jacqueline ) remained in regular and sustained contact with Sukesh Chandrashekhar (accused 1) even after having knowledge of his criminal antecedents, who carefully arranged all benefits, gifts and articles for the applicant out of the ‘proceeds of crime’ involved in the offence of money laundering.”
It said that the consistent interaction through numerous ways of communication and receipt of benefits negates any claim of being an ‘unwitting victim’ as claimed by Jacqueline, and instead highlights her conscious association with the main perpetrator.
According to the agency, the actor used and enjoyed the ‘proceeds of crime’ for herself and her family members, demonstrating a conscious disregard for the source of funds while actively participating in the laundering process.
“Her claim of being a victim is therefore self-serving and contrary to the evidence on record,” it added.
“That the applicant’s conduct during the investigation has been far from cooperative, as she consistently failed to make full and truthful disclosures in her statements recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA on August 30, 2021, October 20, 2021, December 8, 2021, May 20, 2022 and June 27, 2022,” the response said.
It noted that Jacqueline’s statements were evasive, contradictory, and incomplete, requiring repeated confrontations with evidence gathered by the agency.
The federal agency said that the actor had denied material facts relating to cash transactions with her script writer Advaita Kala, receipt of costly gifts and luxury articles, funds transferred to the bank accounts maintained by her sister and brother based abroad, cars purchased for her parents in Bahrain and association with one Pinki Irani and others.
“This deliberate concealment of facts and non-cooperation undermines the very essence of the approver scheme under law, which mandates a full and true disclosure,” it underlined.
The agency said that as Jacqueline was not a minor participant but a significant beneficiary of the ‘proceeds of crime’ and an active participant in money laundering, allowing her to become an approver would be a miscarriage of justice and undermine the gravity of the offence.
It said, “The present application is nothing but an abuse of the process of law, filed with the sole intention of circumventing the legal process and escaping prosecution.”
Granting time to Jacqueline’s counsel to file a reply, the court posted the matter for further proceedings on May 12.
The actor, who was summoned by the ED several times in connection with the investigation, was named as an accused for the first time in a supplementary charge sheet filed by the agency.
On July 3 2025, the Delhi High Court dismissed her petition for quashing the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in the money laundering case.
Two months later, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the high court’s order.
The Delhi Police had booked Chandrasekhar for allegedly duping the spouses of former promoters of Ranbaxy, Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh, of Rs 200 crore. There are other ongoing investigations against him in several cases across the country.
