ED launches fresh raids against 'lottery king' Santiago Martin

Martin was the single biggest donor to political parties with over ₹1,300 crore in electoral bonds

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday (November 14, 2024) conducted fresh searches against Chennai-based 'lottery king' Santiago Martin, the single biggest donor to political parties with over ₹1,300 crore in electoral bonds, as part of a money laundering investigation.

ED officials from Kerala, who arrived on Martin’s premises at Thudiyalur in Coimbatore in two cars, searched his office and residence. Multiple premises linked to Martin were being searched in several places including Coimbatore and Chennai.

The action comes after the Madras High Court recently allowed the ED to proceed against Martin as the Tamil Nadu Police had decided to close the predicate or primary First Information Report (FIR) against him and a few others and a lower court accepted this police plea.

The federal agency last year attached assets worth about ₹457 crore in a case against Martin linked to an alleged loss of over ₹900 crore to the Sikkim government by fraudulent sale of the state lottery in Kerala. Martin’s Future Gaming Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. is the master distributor of Sikkim lotteries.

What is the case?

In March 2012, searches were conducted at the house of a person named Nagarajan in Nanganallur, Chennai, and the Chennai Crime Branch Police had recovered ₹7.25 crore from him. During the inquiry, Nagarajan had told the police that the cash was the outcome of his trade with Martin, through the sale of lotteries in Kerala and Maharashtra.

The police had then registered a money laundering case against Nagarajan, Martin, and his wife Leema Rose Martin.

Based on this case, the ED had registered a case under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

In 2022, the Chennai Crime Branch Police informed a court in Alandur that there was no prima facie evidence to prove charges of money laundering, and accordingly, the case was disposed of.

The ED, meanwhile, moved the Madras High Court challenging the lower court’s decision. The High Court, which raised suspicions about the police’s report seeking the disposal of the case, set aside the order of the Alandur court and directed the ED to investigate the matter further.

Martin recently made news after it came to light through Election Commission data that his company (Future Gaming) was the largest purchaser of electoral bonds worth more than ₹1,300 crore, between 2019 and 2024, meant for donations to political parties.

Published - November 14, 2024 11:28 am IST