The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Pooja Singh, who is a close associate of incarcerated Leena Maria Paul, wife of conman Sukesh Chandrashekar, in connection with the Rs 200 crore money laundering case.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma’s bench granted her bail on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and a similar amount as surety. Previously, her bail plea got rejected by the Patiala House court.
Advocate Satish Pandey, who appeared for Pooja Singh earlier submitted that the Trial Court while rejecting the bail plea failed to consider that the petitioner is one of the employees of said ‘Nail Artistry’ run by the accused Leena Maria Palouse and was bound to follow the instructions of her boss.
Pooja Singh was reportedly unaware of the high-profile crime syndicate allegedly orchestrated by the main accused. However, the truth was that she never supplied the alleged articles to the accused in Jail and the investigating Agency have not found any incriminating evidence to the effect of supply in the stated alleged articles in the jail by the petitioner to the main accused.
Moreover, Advocate Satish Pandey contended that the petitioner, a 26-year-old unmarried woman, joined the ‘Nail Artistry’ beauty salon in Chennai for her livelihood. Following her employer Leena’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and subsequent detention in a Delhi jail, she was duty-bound to adhere to her incarcerated boss’s instructions and counsel.
The petitioner remained entirely uninformed of the purported high-profile criminal network attributed to the main accused. The lawyer asserted that she bore no connection to the alleged Rs. 200 crore money laundering, as indicted by the ED against the main accused.
Upon Pooja Singh’s arrest in July 2022, the ED asserted her lack of cooperation and evasive in her statement. The ED also claimed she erased phone data under Sukesh’s guidance.
Furthermore, it was contended that Pooja Singh possesses crucial material evidence and information related to the money laundering offense, which she is deliberately withholding.
Furthermore, it was submitted that the custodial interrogation of the accused is imperative to identify the involved individuals, ascertain the utilization of the crime’s proceeds, determine the beneficial owners, analyse associated financial transactions, explore layering techniques, and unveil the deeply rooted conspiracy hatched by her with her co-accused for the advancement of the investigation.
It was also alleged that Pooja Singh was assisting Sukesh Chandrashekar for passing information to transfer funds kept with his associates.
Additionally, it was alleged that Pooja Singh was in the knowledge of the fact that sales in ‘Nail Artistry’, owned by Sukesh and his wife, were from the amalgamation of proceeds of crime.
Also, ED alleged that Pooja Singh assisted Sukesh Chandrashekar in laundering that proceeds crime by allowing him for exchanging messages through her for which she was paid a handsome amount.
Therefore, there are reasons to believe that the accused is guilty of offence of money laundering under PMLA.
Presently, Rs 200 crore extortion and Money Laundering case is being probed by the ED and Economic Offence Wing of Delhi Police.
In it’s supplementary chargesheet, ED made Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez an accused in case. In November 2022 trial court granted regular bail to Jacqueline in connection with the case.
Sukesh Chandrashekhar, the prime accused in the Rs 200-crore money laundering case, faces allegations of defrauding Aditi Singh, the wife of former Ranbaxy owner Shivinder Singh, while he was incarcerated in a Delhi jail.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing the money trail in connection to the proceeds of the case.
