The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 173.48 crore under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case against S Martin and others of Kerala.
Attached properties consist of various movable and immovable properties in the form of bank accounts and land situated in Tamil Nadu standing in his name as well as in the name of his various companies.
The ED had initiated investigation under the provisions of PMLA against S Martin and others based on the chargesheet filed by Anti-Corruption Branch, Central Bureau of Investigation, Cochin.
“The PMLA probe revealed that the Partners of M J Associates S Martin and N Jayamurugan made unlawful gain with a corresponding loss to the Government of Sikkim to the extent of Rs 910,29,87,566 on account of inflating the Prize Winning Tickets claim for the period from 01.04.2009 to 31.08.2010, which is nothing but proceeds of crime as defined under Section under Section 2(1)(u) of the PMLA,2002,” the ED said in a statement.
Martin and others have invested the said parts of the proceeds of crime that they had earned from their lottery business 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 Rs 278 crore, it said.
Martin had maintained credit balance of Rs 20.22 crore in his various bank accounts and his companies have acquired immovable properties worth Rs 153.26 crore from the loans and advances given by Santiago Martin and his family members with the intention to launder proceeds of crime amounting to Rs.910,29,87,566, it added.