Electoral bonds data 2nd list: How ’Lottery King’ Santiago Martin became the biggest donor

As the Election Commission of India (ECI) released the second list on electoral bonds on Sunday on the directions of the Supreme Court, one name has prominently came up, Santiago Martin. 

The 'Lottery King' bought a whopping ₹1,368 crore of the bonds issued between April 2019 and January of this year, or around 11 per cent of the total electoral bonds sold in five years.

State Bank of India's second list on electoral bonds has revealed that the biggest beneficiary of the donations made by Martin's Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR is the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

Of the ₹1,368 crore funding by the 1991 Coimbatore-based company, DMK received 37 per cent, amounting to ₹509 crore.

Who is Santiago Martin aka Lottery King?

• Santiago Martin began humble as a labourer in the neighbouring Myanmar. Upon his return from Yangon in 1988, Martin set up a lottery business 'Martin Lottery' in Tamil Nadu.
• According to his charity website, Martin Charitable Trust, the lottery business was later expanded to Karnataka, Punjab, West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra and northeastern states.
• The rags-to-riches story of Martin came under the scanner of authorities. The 'Martin Lottery' was banned in Tamil Nadu in 2003.
• Since 2011, Martin and his company have been subject to several investigations on suspicion of unpaid income tax, money laundering and fraud.
• Following questioning by income tax authorities, an accountant of a college in Coimbatore run by Martin was found dead in 2019.
• Several Central agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax Department, have raided and frozen the assets of Martin.
• In 2023, ED froze assets worth about ₹457 crore over an alleged loss of over ₹900 crore to the Sikkim government because of fraudulent lottery sale in Kerala.
• Martin is known to have friends in political parties across India.
• In 2008, Martin donated ₹2 crore to CPI(M)'s Kerala unit and its mouthpiece, headed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. However, due to internal feud in the party, the money was returned to the Lottery King.
• Lottery King’s son-in-law, Aadhav Arjuna, is believed to be in the inner circle of Tamil Nadu's DMK. Arjuna has now joined the Dalit party Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK).

(With agency inputs)