Delhi Police questions Nora Fatehi in Sukesh fraud case

Fatehi was questioned along with Pinky Irani who allegedly introduced the actor to Sukesh. However, Fatehi has not been named as accused in the case.

New Delhi: The economic offences wing of the Delhi Police on Thursday questioned actor Nora Fatehi for at least six hours at its Mandir Marg headquarters in the ₹200 fraud involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar.

Bollywood actor Nora Fatehi arrives at Economic Offences Wing headquarters in New Delhi for questioning in an extortion case linked to jailed conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar. (PTI)

Officers aware of the matter said Fatehi was questioned along with Pinky Irani who allegedly introduced the actor to Sukesh. However, Fatehi has not been named as accused in the case.

On Wednesday, the police had questioned actor Jacqueline Fernandez, an accused in the charge sheet filed by Enforcement Directorate on charges of laundering money that Chandrashekhar had earned from the fraud. Fernandez was also interrogated along with Irani.

The Delhi Police and ED are separately probing the alleged fraud pulled off by Chandrashekhar from inside Rohini jail. While the police’s economic offences wing is probing allegations of fraud and corruption inside jail, the ED is investigating money laundering charges.

The Delhi Police on Thursday also said that they have seized a Ducati Scrambler bike from a man named Prashant, who works as Fernandez’s manager.

“Chandrashekhar had gifted Prashant the bike on his birthday. Prashant said he had refused to take it but Chandrashekhar left the bike keys with him. The purpose was to get close to Jacqueline Fernandez. Still, as per his statement, he did not help Sukesh Chandrashekhar much. He said he never rode the bike. It remained parked and he asked Chandrashekhar to take it back. We have seized the bike today,” said Ravinder Yadav, special commissioner of police (crime).

On Fatehi’s questioning, Yadav said that she was confronted with Irani (arrested by Delhi Police but out on bail). “We cleared the contradictions in the versions of events given by different people today after both of them were called together. Nora’s brother in law , who is her cousin’s husband, had also received a car, which was given to the actor. So, we called her brother in law too for questioning,” Yadav added.

Officials in the EOW said Fatehi told interrogators that Chandrashekhar had requested her to visit his wife’s studio. “Fatehi said Chandrashekhar insisted that she accept the car instead of money. After Chandrashekhar started calling her incessantly, Fatehi stopped communicating with him. Fatehi may be a witness in our case,” said an official aware of the probe.

Chandrashekhar, 33, is involved in at least 32 criminal cases across Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka and other states. Between 2020 and early 2021, when he was in Delhi’s Rohini jail, Chandrashekhar took ₹200 crore extortion money from jailed industrialist Shivinder Mohan’s wife, Aditi Singh, by posing as the union law secretary. Police have alleged that he spoofed phone numbers, posed as a senior bureaucrat, and called Aditi with an offer to get bail for her jailed husband.

The ED has alleged that Chandrashekhar sent expensive gifts to Fernandez, transferred money to her parents and even bought a house for her in Sri Lanka in 2021. Fernandez told ED she had received some gifts but denied allegations of money laundering. Fernandez has told ED that she was a victim, who too was duped by Chandrashekhar.

Fatehi too has been questioned by the ED at least three times but she has not been charged or named an accused.