The Indian rupee 215 crore extortion case linked to popular actress Jacqueline Fernandez has taken both India and Sri Lanka by storm. Fernandez was recently named as an accused in a supplementary charge sheet filed by the Indian Enforcement Directorate in the infamous extortion case against Indian conman Sukesh Chandrashekar. The incident has also now managed to shake the Indian film industry to its core.
Indian media has taken a keen interest in the story. While newspapers have sought to publish investigative pieces on the case, websites are more interested in gossip, especially to do with Fernandez’s personal life.
Fernandez was born in Manama, Bahrain and came to prominence after she was crowned Miss Universe Sri Lanka in 2006 and represented the country at Miss Universe 2006 held in Los Angeles. Following this Fernandez’s stay in Sri Lanka was short-lived as she had just completed her studies in Mass Communications at a University in Australia and begun her career as a program producer on an international television channel. She also acted in several local music videos including one by Umara Sinhawansa.
Modelling
Fernandez became a Bollywood actress by chance. Fernandez, who had dreamt of becoming a movie star since her youth, went to India in 2009 for a modelling assignment where she successfully auditioned for Sujoy Ghosh’s fantasy drama Aladin. She marked her debut with Bollywood megastars Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt, making her own mark in the industry before long.
Fernandez had her breakthrough role with the psychological thriller Murder 2 and critics called this the turning point of her career. Following this, she acted in Housefull 2 along with Akshay Kumar, John Abraham and Asin. The film became the eighth highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2012. In the following year, Fernandez received a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the 14th IIFA Awards for her performance in the film. She finally made it big when she was chosen to act in Race 2 alongside Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham and Deepika Padukone.
Next, she starred opposite Salman Khan in the film Kick which became the fourth highest-grossing Bollywood film. The film firmly established Fernandez as one of the most popular Bollywood actresses. She then acted in a series of films that set box office records becoming a top-earning actress in the film industry.
She entered the Sri Lankan film industry in 2017 by acting in Chandran Rutnam’s crime-thriller According to Mathew.
Her father Elroy Fernandez is a Sri Lankan Burgher while her mother Kim is of Canadian and Malaysian descent. Elroy is said to have moved to Bahrain following the Black July pogrom in Sri Lanka and met his wife Kim, who was an air hostess at the time. Fernandez is the youngest in a family of five. She has two sisters and two brothers.
Royal family
It was reported that Fernandez was once in a relationship with Bin Rashid Al Khalifa, who was a member of the royal family of Bahrain for three years before she joined the Indian film industry. Later she was linked to Bollywood film director Sajid Khan. Some reports claimed the duo had even married but the relationship eventually broke down in 2013. Following this, it was said she was in a relationship with actor Salman Khan but that too did not last long.
Fernandez has expanded her business interests by joining hands with Chef Darshan Munidasa to set up the ‘Kaema Sutra’ restaurant in 2014 and later invested INR 35 million in a drinks company in India.
Fernandez was linked to the Sukesh Chandrashekar extortion case in December 2021. Chandrashekar, a resident of Bangalore is said to be in his late thirties. Indian media has reported that he had begun his career as a conman at the age of 17. After conning businessmen in Bangalore and leaving them destitute, he then moved to Chennai to carry out his criminal activities.
In addition to the case Fernandez has been named in, the Indian authorities have filed 15 cases against Chandrashekar. The Indian Police have so far confiscated a bungalow in a coastal area of Chennai, INR 8.2 million and more than a dozen luxury cars belonging to him. He had conned people by promising to provide them with employment and scammed them out of more than INR 75 crore by pretending to be a relative of a top politician. In 2011, he and his wife Leena Maria Paul were arrested for defrauding a bank in Chennai and both were later released on bail.
Arrested
According to reports Chandrashekar was arrested over a case where he had conned over INR 200 crore from Aditi Singh, the wife of Shivendra Singh, a former billionaire, who was in jail, with the promise of securing bail for him. Over the months Singh had paid Chandrashekar over allegedly paid INR 250 crore.
While Fernandez had first denied any relationship with Chandrashekar, leaked personal photographs of the duo told a different story. The Police found these images had been taken between April and June when Chandrashekar was a free man.
Fernandez now says Chandrashekar calling himself Shekar Ratna Vela first introduced himself as the “owner of the Sun TV and nephew of Jayalalithaa Jeyaram. However, Indian television channel NDTV reports that Police said the duo’s statements have been contradictory.
Eight more persons have been arrested under suspicion since including his wife Leena, Jacqueline and another actress Pinky Irani.
Fernandez has admitted that Chandrashekar showered her with expensive gifts including four bags from Gucci, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, and Dior, three shoes from Louis Vuitton and Louboutin, two outfits from Gucci, perfumes, four cats, a Mini Cooper, two diamond earrings, a multi-coloured diamond bracelet. In addition to this, Indian media has reported that Chandrashekar had loaned Jacqueline’s sister US$ 173,000 and gifted her brother a BMW car and a Rolex wristwatch.
Fake offence
Meanwhile, her lawyer Prashant Patil says Fernandez is also a victim of the case. Patil said that it is unfair to prosecute ‘innocent’ Jacqueline even without listening to her side of the story. He said the “fake offence” is painful for her. “Nobody has bothered to read the evidence filed by the ED. The entire evidence reflects that she is innocent,” he said.
Patil said that the actress was a victim in this case. “She has always cooperated with the investigation agencies and attended all the summons issued to date. She has handed over all the information to the best of her ability to the ED. The agencies have failed to appreciate that she was cheated and conned into this matter. She is a victim of a larger criminal conspiracy,” he said.
Based on the available evidence, Jacqueline appears to have benefited from the proceeds of Chandrashekar’s financial crimes. It has been alleged that Jacqueline has received gifts of INR 10 crores from Sukesh Chandrashekar from the money he extorted.
“Taking the entire prosecution case to be true for the sake of arguments, even then, no case is made out against Jacqueline under the scheme of Prevention of Money Laundering Act or any other law in force. This is a case of mala-fide prosecution, and my client shall take steps as required under law to protect her dignity and liberty,” Patil said.
There have been many instances in the past where Bollywood stars have found themselves behind the bars. However, no prediction can be made about the charge sheet filed against Jacqueline and its Fernandez outcome because the case is yet to be taken up by the courts.
This article is an English translation of Fauz Mohamed