Love knows no ‘bar’: How Jacqueline Fernandez’s romance with conman Sukesh began

Actor Jacqueline Fernandez has been in the eye of the storm since last year when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned her in connection to a money laundering case involving conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar.

Late in June, she appeared before the ED office for questioning in connection with her alleged links with conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar. This latest round of questioning came after the agency provisionally attached her assets amounting to Rs 7.27 crore (fixed deposits worth Rs 7.12 crore and Rs 15 lakh cash) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), calling these funds “proceeds of crime”.

Questioning has also revealed how the two allegedly met and how their seven-month-long ‘love affair’ developed during which the actor received tonnes of gifts, including a Hermes bag worth laks, diamond jewellery from Tiffany, Persian cats worth Rs 9 lakh and an Arabian horse worth Rs 52 lakh.

Who is Sukesh Chandrashekhar?

Reported to have been born in a lower-middle class family in Karnataka's Bengaluru, Sukesh, also known as Balaji, has earned infamy as being a conman duping over 100 people and becoming a millionaire.

News18 reports that he started conning people at the age of 17 and moved to Chennai, conning people in other metro cities of the country.

Currently lodged in a Delhi jail, Sukesh has 15 FIRs registered against him. He was in the news recently after the ED said that it has seized a luxurious sea-facing bungalow in Chennai, Rs 82.5 lakh cash and over a dozen luxury cars in connection with a money laundering case against him.

It has also been reported that Sukesh, known to be a movie buff, made contact with model and actor Leena Paulose in 2010. Leena, who played a role in the John Abraham-starrer Madras Cafe, was taken up by his charm and they started living together. In 2015, they got married too.

‘Affair’ with Jacqueline

ED officials, according to a report in The Print, have said that the two began their relationship in 2021 while Sukesh was lodged inside Tihar jail.

He started calling and messaging Jacqueline from prison. When the actor didn’t respond, he is believed to have reached out to Pinky Irani, a common link, asking her to help him.

Pinky then approached Shaan, the make-up artist of Jacqueline Fernandez, and also met him in the JW Marriott Hotel to convince him, as per a submission made by the ED in the Supreme Court.

Shaan then convinced Jacqueline to contact Sukesh by saying that he would be a good match for her and that he also came from an influential family.

An ED official told The Print, “They also allegedly told her that she was getting old and that her days in Bollywood were numbered. After much convincing, Fernandez agreed to speak to him.”

What followed was an alleged whirlwind love affair with Sukesh showering gifts on her.

Investigations showed that Sukesh gave the 36-year-old actor a horse for Rs 52 lakh and a Persian cat worth Rs 9 lakh. She was also given a Mini Cooper, which she eventually returned to him.

Sukesh also gifted her three designer bags from Gucci, Chanel, two Gucci outfits for gym wear, a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes, two pairs of diamond earrings and a bracelet of multi-coloured stones, and two Hermes bracelets.

As per another report, Sukesh had gifted her family as well. He loaned around $150,000 to the actor's sister, who lives in the US and also gifted her a BMW X5 car.

The accused con man also gifted Jacqueline’s parents a Maserati, as well as a Porsche to her mother.

Did Jacqueline know of the conman?

ED sources have said to The Print that during Jacqueline's questioning she revealed that she wasn't aware that Sukesh was calling her from inside the jail, and that she often wondered why he “avoided meeting her at occasions.”

A source is quoted as saying, “She claimed that he met her only twice while he was out of jail on parole. One of these meetings happened in Chennai. Whenever Fernandez would ask for a meeting, he would say he was stuck due to COVID restrictions. He kept in constant touch with Fernandez through video calls that he made from the office space that he had created inside Tihar jail.”

As per reports, she mentioned trying to find out about him through a Google search which had told her that he was in jail.

When she asked their go-between about his jail term, she was reportedly told that had been “implicated in a false case” and that all this “keeps happening with big businessmen”.

Talking about the same, Sukesh's lawyer Anant Malik said that although they had an affair that was short-lived, Jacqueline never visited him in jail. He revealed that they met only twice and were in touch for about seven months. He also added that it is a long enough period to know the whereabouts of a person.

He added that an online search would have revealed who Sukesh is and also that he had been arrested in Mumbai at one point of time. "So who Sukesh is, is clear, and it is impossible that Jacqueline was unaware of his involvements or whereabouts.”

With inputs from agencies

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