ED seizes lottery king Santiago Martin’s assets worth Rs 158 crore after raids in Coimbatore, Chennai

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) carried out search operations on the business and residential premises of lottery king Santiago Martin in Tamil Nadu and seized movable and immovable properties worth Rs 457 crore belonging to him.

The searches by the agency in Coimbatore and Chennai carried out on Thursday and Friday, were under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Along with Rs 158 crore worth of movable properties, documents of immovable property worth Rs 299.16 crore were seized.

“Thus, properties worth Rs 457 crore (approx) were unearthed as a result of search operations carried out, and the same have been seized/freezed against the Proceeds of Crime,” the ED said on Monday.

The premises covered include the Registered Office of Future Gaming Solutions India Private Limited at Coimbatore, which is the master distributor of Sikkim Lotteries, the residential premises of Santiago Martin at Coimbatore and the residential premises as well as the business premises of his family members at Chennai.

ED initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of a final report by CBI for various offences punishable under various sections of IPC against Martin and others relating to the sale of lotteries of the Government of Sikkim in the state of Kerala.

“From the PMLA investigations conducted, it was found that S. Martin and his associate companies and entities had made unlawful gain with a corresponding loss to the Government of Sikkim to the extent of Rs 910 Crore on account of inflating the Prize-Winning Tickets claim for the period from April 1, 2009, to August 31, 2010.”