The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth ₹173.48 crore under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the case against S Martin & Others.
Attached properties consist of various movable and immovable properties in the form of bank accounts and lands situated in Tamil Nadu standing in his name as well as in the name of his various companies. The ED has initiated an investigation under the provisions of PMLA based on the charge filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, ACB Cochin.
Investigation revealed that the partners of MJ Associates S Martin and N Jayamurugan made an unlawful gain with a corresponding loss to the government of Sikkim to extent of ₹910,29,87,566/- on account of inflating the prize-winning tickets claim for the period from April 1, 2009 to August 31, 2010 which is nothing but proceeds of crime as defined under Section 2(1)(u) of the PMLA, 2002.
S Martin & Others invested the said parts of the proceeds of crime that they had earned from their lottery business described in the manner above in immovable properties by floating various companies by joining with his family members or through his family members to project the same as untainted properties. So far, four provisional attachment orders have been issued for the attachment of properties worth ₹278 crore.
S Martin had maintained a credit balance of ₹20.22 crore in his various bank accounts and in addition to the above, the aforesaid companies have acquired immovable properties worth ₹153.26 crore from the loans and advances given by Santiago Martin and his family members with the intention to launder proceeds of crime.
Further investigation is in progress.