NEW DELHI: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) carried out search operations and freezed movable properties of lottery king Santiago Martin worth Rs 158 crore. The searches by the agency in Coimbatore and Chennai were carried out last Thursday-Friday, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Along with the movable properties, documents of immovable property worth Rs 299.16 crore were seized. “Thus, properties worth Rs 457 crore (approx) were unearthed as a result of search operations carried out, and the same have been seized/freezed against the proceeds of crime”, the ED said in a statement.
The premises covered include the registered office of Future Gaming Solutions India Pvt Ltd at Coimbatore, which is the master distributor of Sikkim Lotteries, the residential premises of Santiago Martin at Coimbatore and the residential as well as business premises of his family members at Chennai.
The ED initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of a final report by CBI for various offences punishable under various sections of IPC against Martin and others relating to the sale of lotteries of the Government of Sikkim in the state of Kerala.
“From the PMLA investigations conducted, it was found that S Martin and his associate companies and entities had made unlawful gain 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 April 1, 2009, to August 31, 2010.” (ANI)