NEW DELHI: Even as Conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar has hit back at Bollywood actor and model Jacqueline Fernandes for “not sharing the truth” with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Rs 200 crore extortion case, interesting details are emerging indicating that Chandrasekhar left no stone unturned when it came to baiting the hook for its target.
It appears that the alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar had not only spooked the numbers of Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and Law Secretary Anoop Kumar but also the landline number of office of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to show his power in a bid to convince Fernandes’s celebrity makeup and hair artist, Shaan Muttathil.
This stunning revelation was made by Muttathil in his statement to the financial probe agency in October this year. In his statement to the ED, viewed by The New Indian, Muttathil has said that he knew Chandrasekhar as Shekhar as he introduced (himself) by the same name.
According to Muttathil, as documented in the statement, it was in January this year that he started receiving back to back ‘missed’ calls and messages from various phone numbers in the name of Shekhar regarding a meeting to discuss a business proposal.
He said that once on his way back from work, he even met a woman aide of Chandrasekhar at JW Marriott hotel in Mumbai since she insisted that she would be leaving in two to three days.
“She (Chandrasekhar’s aide) took me to her room and introduced me to Shekhar through video call. Shekhar spoke on video call (saying) he watches me on my all social media platform and he can see how much hard (work) is involved in (and) can help me out with content because he runs SUN TV and Jaya TV,” he stated.
He also informed the ED that Shekhar requested him to introduce him to Fernandes because he has been following (the actor) and has been admiring her for her hard work. He said he would like to chat with her.
“The next day I got a call from a lady named Angel and she requested me again if it was possible to have a chat with Fernandes and Shekhar. I asked Fernandes for the same and she refused,” he said.
Muttathil said, “He received a call on the third day from Angel again asking to accept call because the call will be from office of Amit Shah and later I got a call from office of Amit Shah saying Shekhar sir is very important person for us and if you need any help, call without any hesitation to us on this number from which I got the call.”
Muttathil said that after the call, purportedly from the office of Amit Shah, got over, Angel called back to say that he should save the number and that now he should trust her on the fact that Shekhar is not only a nice guy but also a well connected and powerful person. Based on that, she again asked him to introduce Fernandes to Shekhar.
“I told jacqueline (Fernandes) about this mater and she said I will see later. After few days I got a call from Angel saying that I will receive a call from Tamil Nadu government for special award and I got a call in the afternoon from the Tamil Nadu government saying that I will get a special state award for hair makeup for India,” he said in the statement.
He further stated that he then introduced Jacqueline to Shekhar via his mobile phone, believing how powerful the man was. The connected on his “US based number” which was given to him by Angel through WhatsApp message.
Muttathil said, “I shared Shekhar’s mobile number with Jacqueline after that they started talking (directly).” According to Muttathil, in March 2021 he also received gifts from Chandrasekhar on his birthday when he was at the residence of Fernandes.
He said that he received a pair of shoes and a small Gucci handbag as his birthday gift. In April 2021, when the second wave of Covid struck, he went back to Kerala to spend time with his family, he stated.
He further said that in June 2021 Fernandes called him stating that she was going to Chennai to meet Chandrasekhar and his family members and that he (Muttathil) must join her as her brother.
Muttathil said that he got the tickets to travel from Kerala to Chennai on his own and when he went to get his nail work done in Kerala, he got a call from Shekhar (Sukesh Chandrasekhar) asking him “not to create problems” between him and Fernandes and threatening him to stay away.
“Still I was mentally ready to go and meet Shekhar’s (Chandrasekhar) family. I reached Chennai in afternoon and met Fernandes and Shekhar at Leela Palace and got to know that we are not able to meet his family and mother because of prayer at his home and he told us it is not good time to go to his house and we have to stay at Leela Palace,” he stated.
In his statement to ED, Muttathil has also mentioned another incident of threatening by Sukesh in Chennai. “At night he got me a room on another floor and he made sure that I was not with Jacqueline (Fernandes) that night. He dropped me till the lift and I went to room fearing all the threats. They left Chennai the next day,” Muttathil told the probe agency.
He also said that after returning from Kerala to Mumbai a few months later, Muttathil noticed “fear” in Fernandes because Chandrasekhar was constantly monitoring what she was doing. He also claimed that the conman was creating problems between the two (Muttathil and Fernandes). “The day before my masterclass around August 8 this year he had created problems by saying to Jacqueline why she was coming and attending his master class for free and that was the last day when he messaged him last to not to stay in touch with him,” Muttathil said in his statement.
Chandrasekhar is being probed by the ED in connection with the money laundering case which it registered on the basis of the case registered by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) for cheating ex-Fortis promoter Shivender Singh’s wife Aditi S Singh on pretext of getting bail to him.
He had allegedly cheated over Rs 200 crore from Aditi S Singh. Besides Fernandes, the ED has also questioned another Bollywood actor Nora Fatehi in connection with the case.