1. On June 15, 2020 Sukash Chandrashekhar sitting in Rohini Jail in Delhi made the first call on the cellphone of Aditi Singh, wife of Shivinder Singh, former owner of Ranbaxy, who has been lodged in Tihar Jail since 2019. On Aditi’s cellphone is one of the people listed for the Union Home Ministry. Introducing himself as Union Law Secretary Anoop Kumar, he says that he is calling on the instructions of the PMO. He tells Aditi that because of Shivinder’s expertise in healthcare, the government wanted to include him in an apex panel set up to fight Covid, and hence help the jailed businessman get out on bail soon.
2. Later in the day, Sukash calls again, this time as Anoop Kumar’s Under Secretary, Abhinav, and reiterates Sarkar’s intention to help his family. It was only after three calls that Abhinav asked Aditi to contribute Rs 20 crore to the party fund. The payment is made in two installments- Rs 1 crore is remitted to Hong Kong and Rs 19 crore is disbursed in cash in Delhi. More money is being demanded.
3. Sukash shows his influence by sharing a lot of accurate personal information with Aditi, leading her to believe that he may actually harm her husband and children. She does not discuss this with her husband or anyone else out of fear.
4. Aditi sells jewellery, borrows money and liquidates all her assets, including investments made for the future of her children, to arrange for the money. His estate manager Shikha Singh introduces him to Manoj Mangala and Manoj Godha – who help him convert his assets into cash and also transfer them abroad in exchange for the High Commission. RBL Bank manager Komal Poddar and two other acquaintances, Navneet Jain and Rahul Wadhwa, also help in some transactions.
5. Between June 2020 and May 2021, Sukash is paid around Rs 200 crore in 40 transactions. All the cash picking in Delhi is done by his associates Deepak Ramanani (62) and Pradeep Ramdani (53). Suspecting unusual activity in Aditi’s accounts, already due to a money-laundering case against her husband, the ED confronted her. Aditi learns that she has been cheated and contacts Delhi Police.
crime syndicate
The ED has listed several people who had helped Sukash, who was sitting inside Rohini jail, to execute the fraud of Rs 200 crore. List of his accomplices who are in jail and facing charges:
Lena Maria Paul @ Lena Pauloz, 36: The wife of former small-time actress Sukash has been made an accused in at least four cases. When Sukash was extorting extortion from Aditi Singh who was sitting inside Rohini jail, he reconciled with the rest of the gang members.
Deepak Ramnani, 62 and Pradeep Ramdani, 53: The ED chargesheet claimed that Deepak was introduced to Sukash in jail by Sanjay Chandra, former MD of Unitech, who is now in Tihar Jail. Deepak collects the money given by Aditi Singh and gives a part of it to Avtar Singh Kochhar for hawala transactions. When Deepak was not in the city, his brother Pradeep picked up and delivered the cash. He took commission for the same
Avtar Singh Kochhar, 67: Sukash alleged hawala dealer dealing with Aditi Singh for part of the amount of extortion
B. Mohanraj, 35: Sukash and Leena’s lawyer cleverly devised various mechanisms to launder the money they had robbed. He was instrumental in helping Sukash buy a residential property in Chennai when the thief was in jail in August 2020
Arun Muthu, 31: He used to oversee the financial transactions done by Leena. He has been involved in obtaining proceeds of crime in Chennai from hawala operators
Kamlesh Kothari, 40: He enlisted his cousin Jitendra Kothari to lend his name to a property bought by Sukash and Leena in Chennai in August 2020.