A Delhi court on Tuesday (May 23) granted Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez, who is charged with money laundering alongside alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekar, permission to travel abroad from May 25 to June 12, news agency PTI reported. Fernandez filed an application with Special Judge Shailendra Malik, claiming she needed to travel to Abu Dhabi from May 25 to May 27 to attend the IIFA Awards.
The judge also granted her permission to travel to Milan, Italy, from May 28 to June 12, after she stated that she was required to participate in the filming of a film.
On November 15, last year, the court granted bail to Fernandez, who is an accused in the case but was not arrested.
The ED filed the case based on an FIR filed by Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) against Chandrasekhar, who is accused of defrauding and extorting money from Aditi Singh, the wife of Shivinder Mohan Singh, the former promoter of Religare Enterprises.
Singh was arrested in October 2019 in connection with an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd.
After posing as government officials and promising to secure bail for her husband, Chandrasekhar and his associates allegedly took money from Aditi. While in Rohini jail, Chandrasekhar allegedly persuaded Aditi to transfer money by impersonating a central government official over a spoof call.
Fernandez is accused of money laundering in the case.
Fernandes asked the court last year for permission to travel abroad, but the court refused. In fact, in December 2022, Jacqueline Fernandez was briefly detained by immigration authorities at Mumbai International Airport from leaving the country due to an Enforcement Directorate look-out circular issued against her.
Sukesh Chandrashekhar has been accused of extorting money from businessmen, politicians, and celebrities. According to media reports, the ED also suspects that a large sum of money extorted by Sukesh from a businessman's wife was diverted to Jacqueline Fernandez.