ED searches premises of ‘Lottery King’ Santiago Martin in Sikkim Lottery scam case

Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday raided premises linked to ‘lottery king’ Santiago Martin in Tamil Nu in a case linked to alleged loss of over Rs 900 crore to Sikkim government by fraudulent sale of state lottery in Kerala. anti-money laundering agency is also searching premises of his associates in Bengal. searches were carried out under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

ED h frozen movable properties like fixed deposits and mutual funds worth Rs 157.7 linked to Martin in May. documents of immovable property worth Rs 299.16 crore were also seized. "Thus, properties worth Rs 457 crore were uneard as a result of search operations carried out, and same have been seized/frozen against Proceeds of Crime," ED said.

Future Gaming Solutions India Pvt Ltd is master distributor of Sikkim lotteries and agency has been probing lottery king in Tamil Nu since 2019.   investigation stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet filed against Martin and ors for alleged offences relating to sale of lotteries of Sikkim government in Kerala.

premises covered during May raid include Registered Office of Future Gaming Solutions India Private Limited at Coimbatore, residential premises of Martin at Coimbatore and residential and business premises of his family members in Chennai.

“Martin and his associate companies and entities me unlawful gains with a corresponding loss to government of Sikkim to extent of Rs 910 crore on account of inflating prize winning tickets claim for period from 01.04.2009 to 31.08.2010,” ED alleged in a statement.

Assets of Martin and those linked to him have been seized by ED in past too. In December 2021, agency attached immovable assets worth Rs. 19.59 Crore of Santiago Martin and ors under PMLA, 2002 in Sikkim Lottery Scam Case.