‘Jacqueline made Sukesh pay writer for web series script’: ED chargesheet claims

The ED has alleged that Rs 15 lakh was sent by Sukesh to Kala, who had sought advance payment for the job. This transaction is now part of the ED investigation.

The ED has alleged that in her statement registered on August 30, Fernandez denied that Sukesh had sent Rs 15 lakh to Kala in the first week of August 2021 on her behalf. Instead, she told ED, she only gave chocolates and flowers to the writer.

In her second statement recorded on October 20, 2021, however, she admitted that Sukesh had delivered Rs 15 lakh in cash to Kala at her house as “he was keen to produce the movie”, the chargesheet states. “This is contradictory to her claim in her statement dated 30.08.2021. She admitted this now after realising that the investigation has enough evidence to prove this transaction with Ms Advaita Kala,” the chargesheet states.

The ED stated that Kala, in her statement recorded on October 6, 2021, told the agency that she received a call from a person who introduced himself as the “DLF chairman’s secretary” and said he was calling on behalf of Fernandez. He told her he would send a packet containing an advance.

“It will not be out of place to mention here that Fernandez admitted about the transaction of Rs 15 lakh on October 20, 2021 after recording the statement of Ms Kala,” the chargesheet read.

When the ED confronted her about the discrepancies between the two statements, Fernandez said this was because of fear of the ED, stress and reputation of her family members, the chargesheet stated.

In the October 20 statement, Fernandez also admitted to having received four cats and a horse named ‘Espuela’ from Sukesh, “which she was free to use”. She also admitted that she received $15,000 from Sukesh, which was sent to her sister’s bank account, but she said this was a loan for her mortgage on a house, the chargesheet states.

She denied that Sukesh bought a BMW vehicle for her sister. On allegations that Sukesh transferred $50,000 to her brother in Australia, she said the amount was Rs 15 lakh, the chargesheet states.

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The ED stated that in her previous statements, Fernandez did not disclose about the horse, cats, other gifts and the money transfer to her siblings’ bank accounts.

“She did not disclose these facts on her own; she only disclosed these facts when she was asked about the same and on realising that the investigation would be aware of the same. Still, she categorically denied that Sukesh Chandrashekar did not purchase any cars for her parents in Bahrain, which she later admitted,” the chargesheet alleges.

The lawyer for Fernandez,  Prashant Patil, said, “The allegations made against Jacqueline by the Enforcement Directorate are not true and are baseless. I still maintain that if you go through the evidence relied on by ED, it would be clear that Jacqueline is a victim and not an accused in this case. She has been conned and she shall address all her grievances before the court at the appropriate time and by following due process of law. Once we are served with the copy of the chargesheet, we shall take the legal recourse in accordance with law. Truth shall precipitate to the surface at appropriate time.”