The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday seized Rs 8.8 crore from the corporate office of Chennai-based ‘lottery king’ Santiago Martin. The officers provided this information. Martin was one of the biggest donors to political parties. It had donated more than Rs 1,300 crore under the now-cancelled electoral bond scheme.
Officials said the raids were conducted in several states as part of the investigation into the money laundering case registered against Lottery King. The action comes after the Madras High Court recently gave permission to the ED to conduct a detailed investigation against Martin.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu Police had decided to close the case against Martin and some others and the lower court had accepted this plea of the police.
Officials said at least 20 premises linked to Martin, his son-in-law Aadhav Arjun and associates in Chennai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, Faridabad in Haryana, Ludhiana in Punjab and Kolkata in West Bengal are being searched as part of the massive crackdown.
