ED raids ‘Lottery King’ Santiago Martin in Coimbatore amid illegal remittance allegations
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials conducted searches at various properties belonging to ‘Lottery King Martin in Coimbatore on Thursday. It is said that the raids are being conducted due to the illegal remittance of Rs 910 crore in lottery sales.
While the sale of lotteries has been banned in Tamil Nadu, it is permitted in some states including Kerala. Coimbatore-based businessman Martin plays an important role in lottery sales.
It may be recalled after the enforcement department raided the offices of Martin, his son, and his son-in-law, assets worth Rs. 173 crore was frozen by the central agency in August.
After carrying out raids at the residential office premises of Santiago Martin in Chennai Coimbatore in May this year, the ED froze assets worth about Rs 457 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The action was taken based on ED’s investigation linked to a case against Martin of alleged loss of over Rs 900 crore to the Sikkim government by fraudulent sale of the state lottery in Kerala.