Video Editor: Prajjwal Kumar
Video Producer(s): Himanshi Dahiya, Zijah Sherwani
Illustrations: Aroop Mishra
Senior Editor: Somya Lakhani
Voiceover: Prateek Lidhoo
"My bunny rabbit…you and me forever...come what may," read a letter by jailed 'conman' Sukesh Chandrasekhar, dated 9 April, and addressed to Hindi film actor Jaqueline Fernandez.
“Baby I was thinking about us yesterday while I watched your latest ad Lux Cozy…that ad was so about us,” the letter added. Multiple such letters — in which the ‘conman’ had declared his commitment to Fernandez as he assured that “he will stand by her come what may" — have regularly been in the news.
An accused in over 30 high-profile cases of forgery, extortion, and money laundering, Chandrasekhar clearly knows how to stay in the headlines.
Currently in Delhi's Mandoli jail, he is being investigated for allegedly extorting more than Rs 200 crore from the wife of a former Fortis promoter, among other corruption allegations.
In our new illustration-driven video, The Quint documents the life and crimes of the 'conman', who as per the Enforcement Directorate (ED) chargesheet managed to run a multi-crore extortion racket from inside the premises of Delhi's Tihar Jail.
This story is based on an article titled — How Bollywood actors like Jacqueline Fernandez bought into Sukesh Chandrashekhar’s con — published in the Indian Express newspaper on 28 January 2023. The charges against people mentioned in the story are yet to be proven in court.
How It Started
A class 10 dropout, Chandrasekhar was raised in a middle-class family in Bengaluru. His father, Vijayan Chandrasekhar was a part-time contractor. Together, in 2010, they allegedly duped a kitchen equipment dealer.
This was Chandrasekhar's first brush with the world of crime and his father was arrested in connection with the case.
As per the ED chargesheet accessed by The Indian Express, in 2007, Chandrasekhar allegedly cheated a Bengaluru-based resident of Rs 1.5 crore, with the promise of getting his land acquired by the Bangalore Development Authority.
He also faced a string of allegations over the next two years, including impersonating Karnataka politician Karunakaran Reddy’s son, and duping people under the pretext of selling luxury cars.
The chargesheet mentioned that it was sometime in 2009, that Chandrasekhar met Leena, an aspiring actor trained as a dentist. He introduced himself to her as Balaji, and they began dating and seven months down the line, Chandrasekhar suddenly disappeared from her life.
Leena met Sukesh again, five months later, in a jail in Tamil Nadu's Madurai, the chargesheet claimed. Chandrasekhar was released from prison, they got married, and the couple moved to Bengaluru.
By 2013-14, the couple had moved in together at Imperial Heights, Goregaon, Mumbai. But unknown to Leena, Sukesh had bought a separate apartment in the same building and was also “running parallel auditions for other actresses”, said the Express report quoting the ED chargesheet.
When Sukesh Met Jacqueline
Actor Jaqueline Fernandez has been accused of accepting gifts from Chandrasekhar despite knowing his criminal history. She turned witness in this Economic Offences Wing (EOW) case against him.
Among other names mentioned in the ED chargesheet against the 'conman' are actors Nora Fatehi, Chahatt Khanna, Nikki Tamboli, and Sophia Singh.
As per the chargesheet, Chandrasekhar tried to gift Fatehi a BMW car, which was subsequently gifted to her relative.
It is Fernandez, however, whose name has remained at the centre of the controversy since his arrest.
Chandrasekhar first introduced himself to Fernandez in December 2020 as Shekhar Ratna Vela — 'her biggest fan'. He kept calling her for over two months after that but did not receive any response.
Enters Pinky Irani, a former TV anchor who had been in touch with Chandrasekhar since 2017-18. She is accused of introducing actors and models to Sukesh when he was lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail.
Irani approached Fernandez's make-up artist Shaan Muttathil and asked him to introduce Chandrasekhar to Jacqueline. The chargesheet claimed that nothing came out of this meeting.
It was a spoof call by Chandrasekhar, who impersonated a Ministry of Home Affairs official, and asked Muttathil to get in touch with Chandrasekhar, who was a 'very important person in the government,’ that changed everything.
After the call Fernandez started talking to Chandrasekhar who introduced himself as the owner of Sun TV, “belonging to Jayalalithaa”. As per the ED chargesheet, Chandrasekhar sent the actor limited-edition perfumes, flowers, chocolates, designer bags, diamond earrings, bracelets, a horse named Espuela, four cats, and a Mini Cooper.
The report by The Indian Express said that in 2021, Muttathil shared a news article on Chandrasekhar's criminal history with Fernandez.
"Around this time, Sukesh began showering her with gifts. He had promised Irani Rs 10 crore to sort out differences between them. She (Jacqueline) knew that he had a criminal past and yet enjoyed the proceeds of crime. She could have easily verified Sukesh’s claims on Google,” the report quoted an ED officer as saying.
Life in Jail
In January 2023, a CCTV footage emerged from inside Chandrasekhar's cell in Delhi's Mandoli jail. It showed items such as Gucci slippers, Rs 1.5 Lakh in cash, and expensive clothes being recovered from the prison cell as a part of a surprise raid by the officials.
The 'conman' is a prime suspect in an extortion case involving Rs 200 crore and former Ranbaxy Lab and Fortis Healthcare promotors — Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh.
Chandrasekhar allegedly extorted this amount from Aditi Singh, the wife of former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Singh, under the pretext of helping her husband secure bail in a money-laundering case.
Aditi had transferred the money through 10 entities owned by her family. She had to sell her children’s assets and take loans from relatives. This money was collected through cash payments by Sukesh’s aides and then routed through 53 shell companies through hawala channels, a report by The Indian Express stated.
It was this case that led Chandrasekhar to the Tihar Jail from where he was transferred to Mandoli Jail in Delhi after a plea was filed by him alleging a threat to his life.
In his jail cell now, Chandrasekhar spends most of his time reading a newspaper and writing letters to the media.
"Next Easter will be the best one you have ever celebrated in your life. Love you my baby not just love, but, Veri Thanam love, my Jacky Bomma,” is how he ended his later letter to Fernandez written on 9 April.
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