ED seizes ₹8.8 crore from office of ‘lottery king’ Santiago Martin

The action came after the Madras high court recently allowed the central agency to proceed against Martin.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday seized ₹8.8 crore from the corporate office of “lottery king” Santiago Martin in Chennai.

Santiago Martin (File Photo/Reuters)

The searches spanned multiple states and were a part of the ED's money laundering probe against Martin, officials told PTI.

Also, the action came after the Madras high court recently allowed the central agency to proceed against the “lottery king,” as it set aside a lower court order that accepted closure by Tamil Nadu Police of a primary FIR against the industrialist and his associates.

“At least 20 premises linked to Martin, his son-in-law Aadhav Arjun, and their associates were searched as part of a ‘comprehensive action' against the business empire. These premises are in Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Punjab and West Bengal,” officials said.

The ED case is based on a clutch of FIRs against Martin and his network for lottery “fraud” and “illegal” sale of lottery. It is related to the seizure of “unaccounted” ₹7.2 crore from his home in Chennai.

The ED had earlier said two of Martin's firms – Martin Builders Private Limited and Daison Land and Development Private Limited – acquired immovable properties worth ₹19.59 crore from the loans and advances given by the businessman and his family.

Martin was raided by the ED last year as well. Then, the agency attached assets worth about ₹457 crore in a case against the “lottery king” linked to an alleged loss of more than ₹900 crore to the Sikkim government by fraudulent sale of the state lottery in Kerala.