Why Notorious ‘Lottery King’ donated 154 Crores to YSRCP ?

Santiago Martin, popularly known as Lottery King, is an infamous coimbatore-based businessman who made headlines a few months ago when it was unearthed that he made donations to several political parties through electoral bonds. He is once again back in the news after the latest probe by the ED revealed that the annual turnover of Martin’s illegal companies stand at a staggering 15,000 Crores per year.

That a notorious criminal funding political parties to the tune of 1300 Crores has raised many an eyebrow at that time. It was already exposed earlier in 2024 that Martin sponsored electoral bonds worth 500 Crores to Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress party in West Bengal where lottery business is legal.

Interestingly, Martin’s Future Gaming and Hotel Services Pvt Limited donated 154 Crores to YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress party in the form of electoral bonds. What is more surprising is why Lottery King donated to a political party in AP where lottery is banned by the state government ?

Going into the details, the previous government led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy initially planned state-run lottery centres and casinos. A two member committee was also formed and it included Jagan’s trusted advisor and a close associate. The committee explored the idea to open casinos off the Vizag coast similar to that of Goa.

Jagan’s government wanted to generate an income of more than 10,000 Crores every year through lotteries and casinos after the COVID pandemic. However, after several deliberations, the government went back on its plans so as to avoid backlash from the public. At that time, the news about such initiatives went viral and triggered huge criticism on the government from all over the state.

So, the timing of Santiago Martin’s donations to Andhra Pradesh government during 2020 and 2021 might hold the clue to the company’s motivations. Jagan opponents alleges that the initial deal didn’t went as per plan. However , it was YSRCP which ultimately benefitted by getting Crores of money through electoral bonds from the Lottery King.

The Enforcement Directorate, which has been actively investigating his illegal lottery businesses all over the country, already attached several assets which are alleged proceeds of his crime activity. Several cases have been filed on him by the CBI and the ED in several states and the probe revealed shocking irregularities by his companies which he established all these years.