Who Is Santiago Martin Or 'Lottery King'? The Coimbatore Man Who Bought Electoral Bonds Worth Rs 1,368 Cr

In the last 24 hours, the name of a man called Santiago Martin aka 'Lottery King' has suddenly become popular on TV channels and social media as he became the top buyer of electoral bonds, according to the Election Commission.

He has purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 1,368 crore, thus hitting the headlines. Who is he and what is his occupation?

Martin hails from Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu. It is his Future Games and Hotel Services that bought electoral bonds.

Like a film story, he began his career as a labourer and has a rags-to-riches story behind him, PTI reported. However, he has often been in the news for all the wrong reasons and has always been under the watch of the central agencies.

The monicker 'Martin Lottery' he earned due to a fraudulent lottery sale in Kerala. Even after the 2003 ban on lotteries in Tamil Nadu, this name remains infamous due to frequent raids by authorities. An accountant from a Coimbatore college affiliated with Martin's establishment was found dead after interrogation by income tax officials in 2019.

His Future Gaming Solutions India Pvt Ltd serves as the main distributor of Sikkim lotteries. As per the reports, he has good connections across the political parties in Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.

In 2023, the Enforcement Directorate froze assets worth approximately Rs 457 crore. This was in connection to an alleged Rs 900 crore loss to the Sikkim government due to fraudulent lottery sales in Kerala. This action stemmed from a CBI chargesheet filed against Martin for his involvement in the illicit sale of lottery. The agency accused Martin and his associates of inflating prize-winning ticket claims, resulting in substantial losses for the Sikkim government.

"Martin and his associate companies and entities made unlawful gains 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 01.04.2009 to 31.08.2010," the ED had said. Assets of Martin and those linked to him have been seized by the ED in other cases as well.

Not just him, his son-in-law Aadhav Arjuna, the president of the Basketball Federation of India and the deputy general secretary of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, had come under the ED scanner.