Get to know Santiago Martin, the king of the Indian lottery. Glory is India's largest donor to political parties, but has dozens of fraud cases under his belt. The court has not yet issued a ruling in even a single case, and it can be said that “dozens of cases” are still being drawn. “The lottery businessman,” one of India’s political allies, “has not fallen.”
- The Future Gaming and Hotel Services Company of Santiago Martin, the king of the Indian lottery, bought the electoral bonds (Electoral Bonds) Rs 13,680 million during 2019-2024
- Although the court found the purchase of electoral bonds unconstitutional, there is no evidence to suggest that those donations were illegal.
- Martin and his affiliates face 32 counts of lottery fraud, including failure to pay more than R45 billion in Sikkim government lottery winnings.
- Martin has many allies in politics. So he knows what the political trend is. And I planned to move in this direction
Get to know Santiago Martin, the king of the Indian lottery. Glory is India's largest donor to political parties, but has dozens of fraud cases under his belt. The court has not yet issued a ruling in even a single case, and it can be said that “dozens of cases” are still being drawn. “The lottery businessman,” one of India’s political allies, “has not fallen.”
Get to know Santiago Martin, the king of the Indian lottery. Glory is India's largest donor to political parties, but has dozens of fraud cases under his belt. The court has not yet issued a ruling in even a single case, and it can be said that “dozens of cases” are still being drawn. “The lottery businessman,” one of India’s political allies, “has not fallen.”
Reuters news agency reported, “Lottery king“LIndia People accused by government officials of fraud and money laundering shine as India's largest political donor
Information released on Thursday (March 14) indicates that Indian lottery kingpin Santiago Martin's company Future Gaming and Hotel Services has bought…Electoral bonds (electoral bonds) worth 13.68 billion rupiah (about 6 billion baht) between 2019 and 2024. Purchasing such bonds amounts to an anonymous donation to a political party. Unlimited donations
Moreover, the Election Commission released the report on the orders of the Supreme Court of India. It shows that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party was the largest recipient of donations overall. But it did not specify details about the donors that provided support to any political party. Although the court found the purchase of electoral bonds unconstitutional, there is no evidence to suggest that those donations were illegal.
Then this information caught Martin's attention. The 59-year-old lottery veteran built a lottery empire by selling lottery tickets in his youth.
Meanwhile, Future Gaming has yet to comment on political donations.
Lottery king, lottery cheat
Local media reported that Martin, an energetic and well-spoken man, had many allies in politics. He invested money willing to give expensive gifts to politicians as his company grew more and more
Over the years his growing company was caught by tax officials, police and investigators. The facility was searched and several assets related to the case in which Martin was being prosecuted were seized.
The agency said they were guilty of cheating the state lottery. By refusing to remit proceeds from the sale of lottery tickets and violating lottery laws by retaining lottery tickets and claiming prize money from unsold lottery tickets including illegal data management
But Martin and his company deny these allegations. The Martin Group of Companies revealed in October 2023 that the company and its subsidiaries were complying with the law.
Deccan Herald News Agency reported that although Martin was prosecuted by tax authorities and various anti-crime agencies, he still received the awards. “Highest Earning Taxpayers” from the Department of Revenue
From working class to upper class
According to the Martin Foundation, Martin was a youth worker in Myanmar to support his family. He returned to India in the late 1980s and started a business in Coimbatore. A city in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Martin entered the lottery industry at the age of thirteen. He has built a large marketing network for lottery ticket buyers and sellers in India. It expanded its lottery business to various states, including neighboring Bhutan and Nepal. This is a country where they have a monopoly on the sale of lottery tickets.
According to India Today, his company, Martin Lottery Tickets, saw an average annual growth of 109%.
In addition to the lottery, Martin has expanded his business into other areas as well, such as real estate. Health business and media business They have also expanded those businesses abroad, such as Myanmar.
Martin also produced a Rs 200-crore film written by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. It is inspired by the Russian writer whose novel “Mother” and film were released in 2011, but in the same year the ruling party in Tamil Nadu lost the elections. Martin's fortunes changed.
Martin and his affiliates face 32 counts of lottery fraud, including fraud by not paying more than R45 billion in Sikkim government lottery winnings.
Martin was jailed along with several other politicians for eight months in connection with 14 cases relating to land grabbing, fraud and illegal lottery sales.
However, Martin's case has not yet been decided. Some cases are still pending before the court. Although he was imprisoned, he was granted bail.
Moreover, the Deccan Herald noted that Martin has many allies in politics. So he knows what the political trend is. She planned to move in this direction and at a time when the BJP was on the verge of winning the 2014 elections, Lima Rose, Martin's wife, appeared on the campaign stage with Modi, then the BJP candidate.
Later in 2015, Martin's eldest son, Charles, joined Prime Minister Modi's party. He himself is closely involved with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, an influential local political party in Tamil Nadu.
pointing to: Reuters, Deccan Herald, India Today
“Subtly charming student. Pop culture junkie. Creator. Amateur music specialist. Beer fanatic.”