Sikkim lottery scam: ED attaches properties of Santiago Martin worth Rs 119 crore
The investigation by ED had revealed that Santiago Martin and his associates made illegal gain to the extent of Rs 910.3 crore.
In a crucial development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday attached 'lottery king' Santiago Martin's immovable assets worth Rs 119.6 crore in connection with a lottery scam. The attached properties consist of 61 flats, 82 open plots and six plots, belonging to Santiago Martin and his associates.
According to the financial probe agency, the investigation against Santiago Martin and his company M/s Future Gaming Solutions (P) Ltd (Presently M/s Future Gaming and Hotel Services (P) Ltd and formerly Martin Lottery Agencies Ltd) was initiated on the basis of a chargesheet, filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Anti Corruption Bureau, Cochin for cheating, criminal conspiracy and violation of the Lotteries (Regulation) Act.
"Santiago Martin and others entered into a criminal conspiracy to violate the provisions of Lottery (Regulation) Act, 1998 and to obtain wrongful gain by cheating the Sikkim government and in furtherance of the same an agreement contrary to the provisions of the Act was dishonestly set up between Santiago Martin and officials of the Sikkim government by which M/s Martin Lottery Agency Ltd (Presently M/s Future Gaming and Hotel Services (P) Ltd) could practically run the Sikkim State Lottery and avoid the allowance of face value of the lottery tickets to the government as sales proceed to obtain wrongful gain," said the agency.
The investigation had revealed that Santiago Martin and his associates made illegal gain to the extent of Rs 910.3 crore.
The ED has claimed that Santiago Martin invested this illegally gained money from his lottery business by investing into the purchase of immovable properties in the name of 40 companies which were used for laundering the proceeds of crime.
In May, a team of Income Tax (I-T) department officers raided premises of 'lottery king' Martin Santiago. The IT department had initiated searches at 70 premises of Santiago on April 30 and has by far found unaccounted money trail of Rs 595 crores. Raids were conducted at various places in Coimbatore, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi.