ED stumbles on lottery firm's investments in real estate in Mumbai, Tamil Nadu

ED recently conducted searches at 22 locations across Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya and Punjab

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate's multi-state investigation into alleged money laundering by businessman Santiago Martin and his company, Future Gaming and Hotel Services Private Limited, has uncovered significant investments in properties across Mumbai, Tamil Nadu and overseas locations, according to agency sources.

The Enforcement Directorate's multi-state investigation into alleged money laundering by businessman Santiago Martin and his company, Future Gaming and Hotel Services Private Limited, has uncovered significant investments in properties across Mumbai, Tamil Nadu and overseas locations. (Getty image)

The ED recently conducted searches at 22 locations across Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya and Punjab under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The operations revealed property investments in Mumbai, Coimbatore, Chennai, Dubai and London. The agency also discovered substantial share market investments.

During the searches, officials seized unexplained cash totalling ₹12.41 crore, along with various digital devices and incriminating documents. The agency also froze bank fixed deposits worth ₹6.42 crore.

The investigation stems from cases originally filed by the Meghalaya police, following a complaint from the Director of Meghalaya State Lottery, and the Kerala police, both subsequently transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The ED's investigation revealed that over 90 per cent of the company's business involves lottery tickets with a face value of ₹6, with most prizes falling below the non-taxable threshold of ₹10,000. The agency found that the company allegedly maintained inadequate records of prize winners, sold and unsold tickets. The lottery schemes were reportedly designed to channel substantial profits to the company while providing minimal revenue to the organising state.

"The group had captured the lottery market by not allowing others to operate, selling fake lottery tickets, manipulating winning prizes, and purchasing big prize-winning tickets against cash payment for converting black money into white, leading to huge losses to the exchequer and general public," the ED stated.

The agency's search operations included visits to four printing presses responsible for producing lottery tickets.