Sikkim Lottery case: ED says Santiago Martin made ‘unlawful gains’ worth Rs 900 crore | Chennai News – Times of India

In the Sikkim lotteries fraud and money laundering case, the Enforcement Directorate on Monday said its searches in Coimbatore and Chennai last week against distributor Santiago Martin and his family members revealed he had made “unlawful gains” of more than ‘900 crore, which was a loss to the government of Sikkim.
The anti-money laundering agency has unearthed assets and bank deposits of the accused worth ‘457 crore, which have been seized.The lottery scam is for the period of 2009-10 in which Martin’s Coimbatore-based Future Gaming Solutions Pvt Ltd, the master distributor of Sikkim Lotteries in Kerala, is accused of making illegal gains by allegedly inflating the prize-winning tickets. “During the searches, several investments of the group concerns were identified and orders were issued under PMLA to freeze movable properties worth ‘157.7 crore which includes fixed deposits and mutual funds and immovable property documents worth ‘299 crore. The properties worth ‘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,” ED said.
ED had initiated investigation on the basis of a case registered by CBI in Kochi, alleging offences committed by Martin and other associates relating to the sale of lotteries of Sikkim government in Kerala.