A labourer from Myanmar, Santiago Martin, became known as the lottery king of India. He is the owner of Future Gaming and Hotels Private Limited ( earlier known as Martin Lottery Agencies Limited) , a Tamil Nadu-based company that came into existence in 1988. The company claimed that the turnover of the company is 2 Billion USD.
In the current scenario, with the Lok Sabha election being the main attraction, the link between Lottery King Santiago Martin and Electoral Bonds is drawing public interest. Donation of Rs. 1368 Crores through electoral bonds marks Lottery king Santiago Martin became the highest electoral bond donor of the country .
During the 90s, Martin was a top player in Tamil Nadu's lottery scene. However, in 2003, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa banned lotteries, citing their detrimental effects on the lives of the poor in the state.
Eventually, Martin became the ruler of lottery operations in most of these states: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, and West Bengal. He held a particularly strong position in Nagaland and Sikkim.
Regarding criminal records, Martin's business in Karnataka came under police investigation for running an illegal lottery racket in 2007. Even the Kerala police launched a probe into his lottery trade.
In 2011, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered more than 30 cases against Lottery king Santiago Martin and his close aides for cheating the Sikkim government. The chargesheet mentioned that Martin had cheated the Sikkim government of almost 4500 crore rupees by allegedly selling lotteries on behalf of Sikkim government in Kerala but not returning the full amount of sales to them. This scam helped lottery buyers to convert their black money into white.
In 2011, Santiago Martin was arrested in Chennai (Salem) on land grabbing charges with his relatives, worth Rs. 2 crore.
In 2015, the Enforcement Directorate seized 100 crore rupees in cash from a house in Siliguri, which was allegedly allocated for the Bihar Election.
Another raid was conducted In 2019 by the IT departments on 70 different premises of Martin across India. Despite central agencies conducting raids on Martin's immovable assets, he expanded his empire by investing in various sectors like healthcare, education, and hospitality.
In Tamil Nadu Politics, Santiago Martin’s connection with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party became apparent when, in his capacity as the owner of SS Music, he served as a scriptwriter for "Ilaignan," which was DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi's 75th movie, in 2011. Additionally, Martin provided funding for Karunanidhi's film project "Ponnar Shankar," which had been stalled for a considerable period.
Despite his political connections, Martin was not able to reverse the banning of lotteries, initiated by AIADMK Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. Even when the DMK came into power, Martin's appeal to restart lottery selling in Tamil Nadu was rejected.
In 2014, Martin’s wife, Leema Rose Martin, joined a newly formed political party named Indiya Jananayaka Katchi (IJK) in Tamil Nadu allied with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. During the Lok Sabha election, Leema Rose was seen with Narendra Modi in rallies. Later in 2015, the son of Martin and Leema rose joined BJP.
Regarding connection of Lottery King Santiago Martin with the Left Democratic Front Government, when VS Achuthanandan was leading the Left Democratic Front Government (2007) in Kerala and taking strict restrictions on selling illegal lotteries, the mouthpiece of the party Deshabhimani received Rs 2 crore from Martin in the form of bank bonds. EP Jayarajan, who served as general manager, said that the bonds were accepted as developmental funds but later when it was highlighted that it was not legal for the political parties to accept bonds, he stated that Martin had provided the money in exchange for advertisements. And the CPI (M) committee settled this issue by sacking Jayarajan.
Various controversies are emerging daily regarding the electoral bond scheme. Some suggest that companies donating through electoral bonds are facing investigations by bodies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) due to government pressure for donations. Companies unwilling to donate allege harassment by these agencies, prompting them to donate to avoid such situations. Other controversies imply that companies donating large amounts through electoral bonds to political parties aim to secure their favour and possibly perpetuate illegal activities
In the recent past the Supreme Court of India passed in its judgement that the electoral bond is unconstitutional and on adverse reaction of opposition parties against the central government the honourable Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi said that the opposition parties who are questioning the government in this matter will regret . In an interview with the news agency (ANI) , PM said that the intention of accepting the bonds from electoral bond donors is to prevent the flow of black money in election funds.