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

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

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

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

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

“Martin and his associate companies and entities made unlawful gains 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 01.04.2009 to 31.08.2010,” the ED alleged in a statement.

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