CHENNAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached properties worth ₹173.5 crore of 'lottery king' Santiago Martin and his associates under PMLA Act. The properties attached include various movable and immovable properties in the form of bank accounts and land in his name and in the name of his various companies, said a note from the agency.
While the ED had already attached ₹277.6 crore worth properties of Martin and associates, with the latest move, the total value of properties stripped off from him has risen to almost ₹451 crore.
ED had initiated investigation under Money Laundering Act based on the chargesheet filed by CBI, Cochin, and it was revealed that Martin and N Jayamurugan, partners of MJ Associates, caused a huge loss to the tune of ₹910.3 crore to the Sikkim government by inflating the prize winning tickets' claim in 2009 and 2010.
The unlawful gain that they made by cheating the Sikkim government were invested in immovable properties by floating companies in the name of their family members. ED said Martin maintained credit balance of ₹20.2 crore in his various bank accounts and the suspicions companies had acquired immovable properties worth ₹153.3 crore from loans given by Martin and his family members with the intention to launder proceeds amounting to ₹910.3 crore.