A billionaire in prison, his frantic wife trying to gain bail, and a scam artist attempting to make millions. While the wife spent hours chatting to and negotiating with a man she thought was a high government official, the conman sat in Tihar jail in Delhi, weaving an elaborate web of deception to gain over 200 crore.
Sukesh Chandrashekhar, a conman, made many calls to Aditi Singh, the wife of former Ranbaxy owner Shivendra Singh, who is in prison, between June 2020 and May 2021, utilising mobile applications and speech modulation software. Sukesh extorted Rs 215 crore from Aditi under the guise of assisting her husband’s release from prison. Sukesh pretended to be an officer, posing as the Law Secretary, Home Secretary, representative of Home Minister Amit Shah, and representative of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Sukesh disguised as government officials and chatted to her over the phone in 84 audio clips obtained by the media.
How Sukesh Chandrashekhar duped ex-Ranbaxy owner’s wife
It all began on June 15, 2020, when Aditi received a call from a landline number on her mobile phone. A lady approached her and said that Anoop Kumar, the Government of India’s Law Secretary, would want to speak.
She transferred the phone in a matter of seconds, and a man on the other end of the line introduced himself as Anoop Kumar, India’s Law Secretary. He indicated that he was phoning on the Prime Minister’s Office’s (PMO) directives.
Sukesh, who was impersonating Anoop Kumar, alluded to the current Covid-19 outbreak and their court filings in response to Aditi’s husband’s request to donate to healthcare through letters written to the government. He called three times to give specific instructions on protocols of communication with them and drew her attention to the landline numbers that he was calling from the government offices. He advised Aditi to check the numbers on the internet and Truecaller to authenticate the fact of receiving calls from government functionaries.
When Aditi checked the number, she found that the number from which she got the call was from the Law Secretary’s office.
Sukesh, in the role of Anoop Kumar, also issued explicit directions on the information needed to resolve the ongoing legal difficulties, as well as the style of communication and protocols to be followed, as working with the highest offices was both delicate and a privilege. He was also very explicit about the healthcare work that Aditi’s husband would be doing in the future, implying that he would be working as an industry advisor.
The discussion was brief. Sukesh assured her of his support and told her to contact his junior officer Abhinav, who would contact her via Telegram shortly with instructions on how to proceed. ‘Jai Hind,’ he said as he hung up the phone.
Sukesh, imitating Abhinav, contacted Anoop Kumar the next day and identified himself as the Under Secretary. He said he worked directly under Anoop Kumar and was assigned to coordinate on behalf of the honourable PMO and honourable HM (Home Minister Amit Shah).
Sukesh, posing as Anoop and Abhinav, persuaded her over the next several weeks that she was being watched, that the IB (Intelligence Bureau) and other agencies were listening in on her phone calls and watching her movements. He also continued reiterating that she was receiving calls from the landlines of the country’s highest offices, and that this was proof of the government’s backing.
Sukesh posed as Abhinav and used a Telegram number in such a way that she was unable to contact him. Every day, he communicated via Telegram messages and phone calls.
Asking for money
Sukesh, as Anoop Kumar, informed her after the first three calls that she was expected to donate to the party money and that she would need to visit the party headquarters (BJP) or North Block as per instructions in due course to see the elders.
Sukesh, posing as Anoop, later requested Rs 20 crores from Aditi and indicated that Abhinav will give her delivery instructions, which she had to fulfil.
Aditi continued to give money in the hopes that her husband would be released from prison and that business would resume.
The media has transcribed a few audio calls in which Sukesh impersonated Anoop Kumar, the Indian government’s Law Secretary.
Anoop: Hello
Aditi: Yes, Sir
Anoop: He need not worry about the family, and about you or about himself. You all are responsibility of us. We as the government are taking full responsibility. And we are moving forward to start a new beginning also. Please tell him (Shivendra) that.
Aditi: Sir he (husband Shivendra) is requesting for a short meeting it would really give him a comfort.
Anoop: Meeting? He wants to meet?
Aditi: He is saying that since he can’t meet he is requesting for a short physical meeting with me requesting you to have a meeting with me just to give him some comfort. He is very concerned about
Anoop: You tell him not to be worried. Tell him to let us do our job. We know what we are doing. Tell him to look forward to come out rather that all this kind of confusion that he is having. He can come and directly meet and we can have a conversation on the future that we have to take forward. Tell him that in the current scenario with everything happening how does he feel that it’s appropriate to have a meeting. Please ask him that.
Anoop: Hope he understood everything, I tried to communicate.
Aditi: Yes sir I will tell him again
Anoop: You don’t worry. I am just going to finish this conversation with everybody and will call you.
Aditi: Thank you. We are grateful.
Anoop: Jai hind
Aditi: Jai hind
Constant stream of money
Sukesh, as a government officer, assured Aditi that everything would be OK on multiple occasions. Sukesh, as Abhinav, later told Aditi that after considering the scale and complexity of their cases, as well as the fact that the government would provide guidance on how to settle all of the issues, it had been decided that the donation would have to be in the range of Rs 100 crore.
Sukesh, posing as Abhinav, continued to phone, persuade, and weave stories in order to ensure that he received a steady supply of money from the sale of personal assets such as jewellery, silver, and all investments. He put terror in Aditi’s mind, telling her that she should not discuss it with her husband over the phone or with anybody else because it would be disastrous.
Due to the lockdown and pandemic limitations, there were no physical meetings or video conferencing from the end of March to August 2020, making it simpler for Sukesh, as Abhinav, to ensure that Aditi could not discuss this with her husband, with whom she had just five minute calls per day.
Sukesh emotionally pushed Aditi into liquidating the assets as soon as possible at whatever cost, taking advantage of her vulnerability and naivety, as well as the relentless pressure he put on her for the delivery of monies.
Sukesh, as Abhinav, continued his racket of intimidation, extortion, threats, and coercion until the lockdown in April 2021. By this time, he had received about Rs 200 crores from a mixture of selling his children’s assets and borrowing money from family and friends under the guise of legal fees, growing costs, and children’s schooling.
The ED, after a tip off, busted the entire racket and asked Aditi to file a complaint.
