ED launches fresh raids against 'lottery king' Santiago Martin

Chennai: Lottery baron Santiago Martin, whose Future Gaming and Hotel Services topped the list of companies that bought the now “illegal” electoral bonds, came under the radar of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) once again on Thursday with searches being carried out in premises connected to him in at least five locations in Tamil Nadu.

The searches also included premises owned by Martin’s son Tyson and son-in-law Aadhav Arjuna, deputy general secretary of Dalit party Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) in Triplicane and Teynampet in Chennai. Besides the Tamil Nadu capital, searches were held in Coimbatore, from where Martin has been running his empire for the past few decades.

Sources in the ED told DH that the searches are in connection with an ongoing money laundering case against the lottery baron. The development comes just weeks after the Madras High Court, in a significant verdict, ruled that the ED can always take recourse to legal remedies available to it for prosecuting the accused even if other agencies close the case against them.

The High Court had set aside an order pronounced by Alandur Judicial Magistrate in November 2022 after accepting a closure report filed by the Chennai City Central Crime Branch (CCB) police in connection with a case filed against Martin and his wife M Leema Rose.

The case was related to the seizure of Rs 7.20 crore, suspected to be proceeds from the sale of lottery tickets that are banned in Tamil Nadu, from one of the five accused in March 2012. In 2022, the CCB filed a closure report in the case. The High Court had in October, while setting aside the lower court order, also noted that the CCB’s closure report was “palpably wrong.”

CRPF personnel guarded the premises where the raids were conducted by the ED.

Martin shot into limelight earlier this year when his firm topped the list of companies that bought electoral bonds, declared illegal by the Supreme Court in February. Martin’s largest donation went to the DMK, while the BJP also secured a significant portion of the bonds.

Martin’s company purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 1,368 crore between April 2019 and January 2024, as per details uploaded on the website of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

In 2016, 2018, and 2023, the 59-year-old businessman was raided by Central agencies and attached properties worth Rs 457 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with a case linked to the alleged loss of over Rs 900 crore to the Sikkim government.

His donations in the form of electoral bonds to the BJP apparently increased after the raids. One of his group companies was also awarded the contract to run a private train from Coimbatore to Shirdi in Maharashtra in 2022.

Future Gaming, which still operates in 13 states where sale of lottery tickets is legal, over the years, diversified into real estate, hospitality, satellite television channel, and software.