Santiago Martin refutes attachment notice

Lottery kingpin Santiago Martin has petitioned the Kerala high court, seeking to refute the attachment notice issued by the Directorate of Enforcement under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) Act.

According to local press, Martin, represented by senior counsel M K Damodaran argued that in order to initiate proceedings for a money laundering offence, the property (allegedly worth over Rs 122 crore in this case) subject to the PML Act must be obtained as a result of ‘criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence’.

However, “the activity under the Lotteries (Regulations) Act is not a criminal activity,” stated Martin.

“Any proceedings for violation of the Lotteries Act is absolutely irrelevant and form no basis for any proceedings under the PML Act. Hence, the Enforcement Directorate has no authority to initiate proceedings,” he said.

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