The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently conducted an extensive operation targeting Chennai-based businessman Santiago Martin, often called the "lottery king." The operation, related to an ongoing money laundering investigation, covered 22 locations across Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Punjab. During the raids, the ED seized ₹12.41 crore in cash and froze Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) worth ₹6.42 crore. This intensified investigation follows a recent decision by the Madras High Court, which granted the ED permission to move forward with the case, reversing a lower court's earlier acceptance of a closure report filed by Tamil Nadu Police.
Santiago Martin and his son-in-law Aadhav Arjun, along with their associates, have been under scrutiny by the ED since 2019 due to allegations of lottery fraud and illegal sales. Martin, a prominent figure in the lottery business, was previously recognized as the largest political donor through electoral bonds, contributing a now-scrapped total of ₹1,300 crores.
This latest development comes just days after the ED conducted another set of raids, seizing ₹8.8 crore from Martin's corporate offices spread across multiple states. Last year, in 2023, the ED attached assets valued at ₹457 crore linked to Martin, citing a fraudulent scheme involving Sikkim lottery sales in Kerala, which allegedly caused a ₹900 crore loss to the Sikkim government. Martin's company, Future Gaming Solutions India Pvt. Ltd., serves as the primary distributor for Sikkim lotteries, a business now at the center of this high-profile investigation.
