NEW DELHI: In connection with a lottery fraud, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached "Lottery King" Santiago Martin's immovable assets worth Rs 19.59 crore on Thursday. It had already attached the businessman's properties worth Rs 258 crore. The current attachment brings the total attachment in the case to Rs 277.59 crore.

The attached properties, according to an ED employee, consist of various immovable properties in the form of unoccupied lands in Tamil Nadu. Previously, the Anti-Corruption Bureau Kochi and the federal investigation agency CBI had filed a charge sheet against the accused under sections 120-B, 420, read with sections 4(d), 4(f), 7 (3), 9, and 3 (5), 4 (5) of the Lotteries (Regulation) Act, and 3 (5), 4 (5) of the Lotteries Regulation Rules, 2010. Later, the ED launched a money-laundering investigation into the defendants.

According to the charge sheet, the accused Santiago defrauded the government of Sikkim of Rs 4,500 crore. The accused led the government to lose a significant amount of money by selling Sikkim lottery in Kerala. With the help of 15 middlemen, the money was allegedly dispersed to 72 people, including Sikkim government officials.

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