Norah Fatehi appears before ED in 'conman' money laundering case

Actor Norah Fatehi on Thursday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here for recording her statement in connection with a money laundering case filed against alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar, officials said.

Fatehi, 29, appeared before the investigating officer of the case at the agency office here.

Sources said her statement is being recorded under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with a money laundering case filed against Chandrashekar and his actor wife Leena Maria Paul. The agency had earlier questioned actor Jacqueline Fernandes in this case. She is expected to depose again before the agency on Thursday.

Both the actors are understood to be helping the agency in taking the probe forward as they had been allegedly conned in the racket run by Chandrashekhar and his wife.

The two were recently arrested by the ED while they were already lodged in jail after they were arrested by the Delhi Police on charges of cheating some people including some high-profile individuals including former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh’s wife Aditi Singh.

In August, the ED had raided some of Chandrashekhar’s premises and seized a sea-facing bungalow in Chennai, Rs 82.5 lakh cash, and over a dozen luxurious cars. It had claimed in a statement that Chandrashekhar is a ”known conman” and is being probed by the Delhi Police in a case of alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating, and extortion to the tune of about Rs 200 crore.

”Chandrasekhar is the mastermind of this fraud. He has been part of the crime world since the age of 17. He has multiple FIRs against him and is presently lodged in Rohini jail (in connection with the Delhi Police case),” the ED had said.

Despite being in the jail, it said, Chandrashekhar ”did not stop conning” people, the ED said. ”He (with a cellphone procured illegally in prison) with the help of technology, made spoofed calls to dupe people as the numbers displayed on the called party’s phone number belonged to senior government officers.

”While speaking (from prison) to these persons, he claimed to be a government officer offering to help people for a price,” the ED had claimed.