Chahatt Khanna has often been on the receiving end of trolling, be it for her linkups with singer Mika Singh and conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar or for speaking her mind on social media. The 36-year-old calls all this “heartbreaking” and says the negativity gets to her.

“People call me names like buddhi and gold-digger, and it’s heartbreaking,” says Khanna, adding, “They say such mean things without realising how hard I work. Just because I am not seen on camera does not mean I am not working. I am busy with my startup, which is worth crores. I can’t go to people and tell them, ‘Hello, I am an entrepreneur’. But this disturbs me.”

Khanna feels she’s subjected to constant scrutiny for things that are “not even true”. She shares that no matter what she does, it somehow turns against her. “Every time I’m like, ‘Okay, there is another controversy’. Even if I post a picture, people think I am getting married, like when I posted Mika’s pictures. There was nothing between us, but still, it turned into a big deal,” she tells us.

All this has made the actor “wary of what I say or put in public”. She elaborates, “Main apne bhai ke saath bhi photo daalungi toh [log] bolenge ki naya boyfriend hai. I cannot stop living my life [due to this], but I will definitely stop sharing on social media.” 

The Qubool Hai actor despises the fact that, as a public figure, she’s told that she must refrain from certain activities, including sharing her opinion on things, as she did for fashion influencer Uorfi Javed’s clothes. “People say, ‘At least tumhein toh ye sab nahin karna ya kehna chahiye’. And my question to them is: why this pressure and unrealistic expectation from me? Is it because I am a public figure? Aren’t we humans as well?”

Calling it unjust, Khanna points out how, like any other person, public figures also have opinions, “but every time we put them forward, we are trolled”.

Filmmaker Anand Kumar has exclusively confirmed to us about working on a project based on the life of conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar. Kumar, who recently met Deepak Sharma, ASP, Tihar Jail, says, “The project is in a nascent phase. It was my first meeting with Sharma; depending on the kind of research and information that we gather, I’ll decide whether this project will be a movie or web series. My writers will be in Delhi next month and try to get in touch with the investigating team.”

Kumar doesn’t want to term this project as a biopic although it will be based on Chandrasekhar and will include his personal life, cheating and money laundering cases as well as the link-ups with actors Jacqueline Fernandes and Nora Fatehi. “Biopics mahaan logon ki banti hain. He’s a conman; mujhe usko amar nahin karna,” mentions the Zila Ghaziabad (2013) director.

Talking about the intriguing factor that pushed him towards this story, Kumar shares, “Sukesh knows 10-12 languages and maybe more. His style of conning people is unique. I want to explore how he used to create networks and pull such frauds. I want to show how he was a mastermind; he would plan a scam for almost a year before executing it! Such personalities have never been explored before [in Indian cinema].”

The research has been on for the last six months. Ask him if he has thought of meeting the conman himself for research and he says, “I haven’t thought about it, but agar woh nahin bhi batayega [about his story] toh sikke ka doosra pehlu bhi hai mere paas. I can reach out to the people he has conned.”

In addition, ASP Deepak Sharma tells us, “Anand ji wanted to understand how Sukesh looks, behaves, what he likes to do and how he dresses up, etc.”

Adding a new twist to the Sukesh Chandrashekhar case that Bollywood actresses Nora Fatehi and Jaqueline Fernandes have gotten tangled up in, the alleged conman has claimed in a statement on Saturday that he and Jacqueline Fernandez were in a “serious relationship”. Chandrashekhar further alleged that Nora Fatehi was jealous of Jacqueline.

In a press statement issued through his lawyers, Chandrashekhar stated, “Nora was jealous of Jacqueline and was brainwashing me against her, as she wanted me to leave Jacqueline and date her. Nora used to try calling me at least 10 times a day...As I and Jacqueline were in a serious relationship, I started avoiding Nora, but she kept irritating me...She also kept sending me multiple pictures of Hermes bags and jewellery that she wanted, which I obliged by giving her, which she was using till date.”

The letter further reads, “Nora claims that she did not want a car, but that is a very big lie, as she was after my life that her car had to be changed. Then it was me and her who selected the (new) BMW 5 series, which she kept using for a long time.”

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In a recent development, where the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police has filed a supplementary charge sheet in connection with the Rs. 200 crore extortion case, alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar on Saturday claimed that actor Nora Fatehi has always been jealous of actor Jacqueline Fernandez.

Chandrasekhar stated in a press statement issued through his lawyers, Anant Malik and AK Singh, that Fatehi always brainwashed him against Fernandez as she wanted him to leave Fernandez and start dating her. “Nora used to try calling me at least 10 times a day, and if I didn’t answer the call, she used to keep calling me,” he claimed. 

“As Jacqueline and I were in a serious relationship, I started avoiding Nora, but she kept irritating me by calling and also, asking me to help Bobby (her relative) set up a music production company, which I did. She also kept sending me multiple pictures of Hermès bags and jewellery that she wanted, which I obliged. Ask her to produce one bill of Hermès bags that she still has; she will never be able to produce the bills because she does not have them.The bags are worth more than Rs. 2 crores,” claimed Chandrasekhar.

He also stated that “Nora gives a different statement before the ED u/s 50 PMLA, which is admissible in court, but later the entire statement is changed and new stories are told before the EOW and a magistrate”. He also added that his association with “actors Nikki Tamboli and Chahatt Khanna were only professional”.

New Delhi : Bollywood actor Nora Fatehi on Monday filed a criminal defamation complaint before a Delhi court against fellow actor Jacqueline Fernandez for allegedly defaming her by “unfairly dragging” her name into an alleged Rs 200-crore money laundering case involving purported conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar.

“The complainant has a pristine reputation apart from a rapidly progressing career, which has quite obviously threatened her rivals who are unable to compete with her on fair footing,” said the complaint, which is likely to come up for hearing later this month.

Fatehi claimed that Fernandez made the defamatory statement in her submission before the PMLA tribunal in “bad faith” and with “mala fide intention”.

The complaint also said the allegations made by Fernandez, also a Bollywood actor, that Fatehi received gifts from Chandrasekhar, are wrong. “The only time the complainant spoke to Chandrasekhar was when his wife, Leena Maria, made her speak to him over speakerphone at an event in Chennai where the complainant was invited by Leena. At the event, the complainant was gifted an iPhone and a Gucci bag by Leena. No gifts were ever received by the complainant from Chandrasekhar,” Fatehi said in the complaint. She also denied receiving a luxury car from him.

The court had on November 15 granted regular bail to Fernandez, who has never been arrested in the case. On August 31, it had taken cognisance of a supplementary chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate and asked Fernandez to appear before it. Fernandez, who was summoned by the ED several times in connection with the investigation, has been named as an accused in the supplementary chargesheet.

Nora Fatehi was questioned by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police on Thursday, for more than four hours in connection with the Rs. 200 crores money laundering case involving Sukesh Chandrasekhar. Nora claimed in front of the EOW that she was a “victim of the conspiracy and not a conspirator”. She also showed them screenshots of her chats with Sukesh.

The police told Nora about Sukesh’s claim that Nora had insisted on a BMW 5 Series Car for attending a “charity event” in Chennai, a claim which Nora denied stating that she was gifted the car instead as a “token of love and generosity”.

In the event, Nora said she was offered a BMW car and a participation fee in the event, but that she refused to take that gift, however, she told (the organizers) that it should be given to her brother-in-law Mehboob alias Bobby. Special CP – Crime, Delhi Police, Ravinder Yadav said that Fatehi’s brother-in-law got a BMW from Chandrasekhar in 2021.

On being asked about who paid for her travel and other expenses, she took the name of Leena Paul. Pinky Irani had apparently introduced Nora to Sukesh.

Nora was also asked whether she had met Leena and Pinky at the event and if she had received any gifts from them. Nora answered that Leena met her at an event and gifted her a Gucci bag and an iPhone.

Nora also claimed that she received a call from Shekhar alias Sukesh after this, and she gave Mehboob/Bobby’s number to him for future dealings. When asked, when exactly she found Sukesh suspicious, Nora answered that when she started receiving calls and texts regularly from Sukesh, and when he started luring her with gifts, she understood his intentions and broke all relations with him and his managers.

On Wednesday, EOW had also grilled Jacqueline for eight hours at its office in connection with the case. EOW has recovered a super bike, costing around Rs. 8 lakhs from Prashant who is the manager of Fernandez. This bike was gifted by Sukesh to Prashant.

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Actor Nora Fatehi appeared before the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in Delhi, on Thursday, where she was questioned for more than five hours in connection with conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar’s Rs. 200-crores money laundering case. Actor Jacqueline Fernandez was questioned, too.

“Nora was questioned earlier too, but there were a few unanswered things. The main reason is the common link between her and Fernandez. Both actresses were introduced to Sukesh by Pinky Irani (his aide),” a police officer was quoted as saying.

According to sources, Fatehi, 30, claimed that she is a victim of conspiracy, not a conspirator. She showed screenshots of her conversations with the conman and also provided details of her visit to a charity event in Tamil Nadu, for which she allegedly demanded for a BMW car. The actor said that she was gifted the car as a “token of love and generosity”, which she refused to accept at first.

Earlier, speaking to ANI, Ravinder Yadav, special commissioner of police, EOW, said, “There is more trouble for Jacqueline, as she did not cut ties with Sukesh even after knowing his criminal antecedents. But Nora did disconnect herself once she suspected that something was fishy.”

New Delhi: Actor Jacqueline Fernandez was made an accused in the Sukesh Chandrashekhar extortion racket following attachment of her assets earlier in April this year worth Rs 7.3 crores. She had benefited from acquiring properties to expensive cars and bank deposits from the ‘proceeds of crime’.

The agency had earlier claimed that the conman had transferred more than Rs 1.5 crores to family members of Fernandez in foreign accounts using hawala dealers.

Fernandez was last questioned by the ED on June 27 this year at its Delhi office in connection with the conman spending over Rs 20 crore on luxury properties, bribing prison staff and offering expensive gifts to Bollywood actresses and models.

The agency is investigating the extortion syndicate of Chandrashekhar who is allegedly trying to create ‘circumstances’ for his shift from Delhi’s Tihar jail to some other state prison by appealing in the Supreme Court. So far, the ED has arrested eight persons in the money laundering case against Chandrashekhar, including his wife Leena Maria Paul and associate Pinki Irani.

The conman, while he was lodged in a Delhi prison, extorted Rs 200 crores from a businessman’s wife tricking her by claiming to ‘manage’ home ministry and ED officials for the release of her husband.

Fernandez has been questioned four times by the agency. The officials have details of financial transactions that show the actress received huge cash and other gifts from the conman. Earlier this year, the agency had attached fixed deposits worth Rs 7.12 crores and Rs 15 lakhs cash belonging to the actor.

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has decided to name Jacqueline Fernandez as an accused in a multi-crore money laundering case linked to alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekar and others, officials said on Wednesday. The federal probe agency reportedly filed a fresh (supplementary) chargesheet or prosecution complaint in this case before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi on Wednesday and the actress has been arraigned in it as an accused, they said.

The 36-year-old actress, a Sri Lanka national, has been questioned multiple times by the agency in the case, the last being in June. The ED in April provisionally attached Rs. 7.27 crores assets of the actress under the PMLA apart from Rs. 15 lakh cash, as the agency called these funds “proceeds of crime”. 

“Sukesh Chandrasekar had given various gifts worth Rs. 5.71 crores to Fernandez from the proceeds of crime generated by criminal activities, including extortion. Chandrasekar had Pinky Irani, his longtime associate and co-accused in this case, deliver the said gifts to her,” the ED had then said in a statement.

In addition to these gifts, it said, Chandrasekar also gave “funds to the tune of USD 1,72,913 (about Rs. 1.3 crores as per current exchange rate) and AUD 26,740 (₹14 lakhs, approx) to the close family members of Fernandez out of the proceeds of crime through co-accused Avtar Singh Kochhar, an established and well known international hawala operator.”

The agency said its probe also found that Chandrasekar had “delivered cash to the tune of Rs. 15 lakhs to a script writer on behalf of Fernandez as advance for writing a script of her web series project.”

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has decided to name actor Jacqueline Fernandez as an accused in a multi-crore money laundering case linked to alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar and others, the officials said on Wednesday.

The federal agency filed a supplementary charge sheet or prosecution complaint in the case before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi, and the actor has been arraigned in it as an accused.

Fernandez, 36, has been questioned multiple times by the agency in this case, the last being in June. In April, the ED provisionally attached Rs. 7.27 crores funds of the actor, a Sri Lankan national, under PMLA, apart from ₹15 lakh cash as the agency called these funds as “proceeds of crime”.

“Sukesh Chandrasekhar had given various gifts worth Rs. 5.71 crores to Jacqueline Fernandez from the proceeds of crime generated by criminal activities including extortion. He had put Pinky Irani, his long-time associate and co-accused in this case to deliver the gifts to Fernandez,” the ED had stated then.

There was no reaction from Fernandez till the time of going to press.

The ED has attached assets worth Rs 7. 27 crore of actor Jacqueline Fernandez, mostly in fixed deposits, in connection with the money laundering case being investigated against conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar.

“During investigation, it was revealed that Chandrashekhar had given various gifts worth Rs 5. 71 crore to actor Jacqueline Fernandez from the proceeds of crime generated by criminal activities, including extortion,” the ED said in its attachment order.

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets amounting to Rs 7.27 crore, including fixed deposits worth Rs 7.12 crore of actress Jacqueline Fernandez under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case related to conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar.

Chandrasekhar is accused of extorting Rs 215 crore from the wife of a Delhi-based businessman through spoof calls. While he was lodged in a Delhi jail in June 2020, he allegedly extorted money from the victim by pretending to be an officer from the Prime Minister’s office, the Law Ministry and the Home Ministry. In the phone calls, he claimed that he’d secure bail for the victim’s husband and get their pharmaceutical business running.

During investigation, it was revealed that Chandrasekhar had given various gifts worth Rs 5.71 crore to Fernandez, generated by criminal activities, including extortion. Chandrasekhar had asked Pinky Irani, his long-time associate and co-accused in this case, to deliver the gifts to her. In addition to these gifts, Chandrasekhar had also given funds to the tune of USD $172,913 and AUD $26,740 to the actors close family members through co-accused Avtar Singh Kochhar, an established and well-known international hawala operator.

Chandrasekhar had also delivered cash to the tune of Rs 15 lakh to a scriptwriter on behalf of Fernandez as advance for writing a script for her web series project. This cash amount has also been attached. Chandrasekhar and eight other persons, including his wife Leena Maria Paul were arrested under PMLA in 2021.

Almost two months after her first appearance before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in Delhi in a money laundering investigation, Jacqueline Fernandez’s spokesperson issued a statement on Saturday saying that she denies alleged slanderous statements made about her relationship with Sukesh Chandrasekhar and his wife Leena Maria Paul. Earlier Nora Fatehi, who appeared before the ED in the same case, had denied any personal connection with the couple that’s being investigated by the ED.

On Saturday October 23, when Sukesh was produced before the court, his lawyer Anant Malik, told the media, “Jacqueline and Sukesh were dating, these are my instructions, this is straight from the horse’s mouth.”

Following this comment, the same evening, Jacqueline’s spokesperson issued a statement saying that she is “being called to testify as a witness by the ED. She has duly recorded her statements and in the future will also be completely co-operating in investigations. Jacqueline Fernandez also categorically denies alleged slanderous statements made about relationship with the involved couple.”

Last week, (on October 20), Jacqueline appeared before the ED after skipping four summons due to personal reasons and professional commitments. ED sources told ANI that Sukesh claimed in front of Jacqueline that he had gifted her luxury gifts. Jacqueline was first called to appear before the ED on August 30 and her statement was recorded under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). ED officials had questioned her about the trail of transactions between her and Sukesh and to submit proof for her claims.

On October 23, when Sukesh Chandrasekhar was taken to the courtroom by ED officials, he was asked whether he had gifted a car to Nora Fatehi. When he responded yes, he was asked which car, to which he responded, “Why don’t you ask her about it?” His lawyer Anant Malik told the media on Saturday, “Nora Fatehi claims to be a victim but she was gifted a BMW car.”

However, on October 15, the day after Nora appeared before the ED, a statement issued by her spokesperson said, “Nora Fatehi has been the victim around the case and being a witness, she is co-operating and helping the officers in the investigation. We would like to make it very clear that she has not been a part of any money laundering activity, she does not know or have any personal connection with the accused and has been called by ED to strictly help with the investigation.”

Last year BMW’s Instagram account posted Nora Fatehi’s pictures after purchasing a car.