“The story of his life is one that epitomises the success of a man who built nothing, into an empire,” says the website of the Martin Foundation about Santiago Martin, the founder and chairman of the Martin Group of Companies.
He worked in Myanmar and returned in the 90s to build his empire, never shying away from controversy and rubbing shoulders with politicians. And what helped him the most was a quality attributed to politicians — knowing which side the wind would blow.
Known as the ‘Lottery King’ of India, Santiago Martin built his empire on the dreams of people who wanted to make it big in life.
Martin hit the jackpot as millions of people in states like Kerala, Sikkim, West Bengal, Punjab, and Maharashtra kept matching the numbers of their tickets with the evasive magic number.
Martin, now it has become evident, helped boost the fortunes of political parties too.
As the State Bank of India put in the public domain the list of companies that bought electoral bonds and helped finance political parties, Santiago Martin’s organisation came on top.
His Future Gaming and Hotel Services Pvt Ltd contributed Rs 1,368 crore.
The Congress alleged that the BJP got crores from Martin’s company and has sought a CBI probe. However, with the data shared by the Election Commission, it can’t be said with certainty which party the funds went to.
Martin took his first steps in the lottery industry when he was just 13, according to the Martin Charitable Trust website.
He built a vast marketing network of the buyers and sellers of lotteries across India. His lottery business, Martin Lottery Tickets, has an average annual growth of 109%.
Based in Coimbatore, Santiago Martin’s business interests are spread beyond India’s borders. He also operates in Myanmar, a country where he worked in his early years.
Part of his Martin Group of Companies are Martin Myanmar and Martin Yangon. The companies are into real estate, construction, alternative energy, visual media entertainment, hospitality, healthcare and education among others.
In India, too, he diversified from the lottery to healthcare, real estate and television broadcasting.
As his companies grew, Martin Santiago kept on getting entangled in controversies.
His first brush with controversy was when he was accused of defrauding the Sikkim government of Rs 4,500 crore. That would return to bite him in 2023.
He was embroiled in a political funding case in Kerala, where lottery is big.
In 2008, he donated Rs 2 crore to CPI(M)’s Kerala unit and its mouthpiece, both controlled by now Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The party was seeing internal feud and V S Achuthanandan took on Vijayan over the payment and the money was returned to Martin Santiago.
In Tamil Nadu, Martin cosied up to the DMK. He produced ‘Ilaignan’, which was written by then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
Martin’s son-in-law, Aadhav Arjuna, is said to have been in the inner circle of the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu. He has now joined the prominent Dalit party Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK).
In 2014, as the BJP was poised to sweep the Lok Sabha polls, Martin’s wife Leema Rose joined the Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK), an ally of the BJP, and appeared on stage with prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, according to a Deccan Herald report.
However, Santiago Martin’s political connections couldn’t keep him away from investigating agencies.
In 2015, the Income Tax Department raided Martin’s premises in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
In 2023, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached Martin’s assets worth Rs 457 crore in connection with a case linked to the defrauding of the Sikkim government.
Now, it has emerged that Santiago Martin is the top buyer of electoral bonds and helped finance political parties. The ‘Lottery King’, who lured the common people with the promise of good fortunes, has definitely brought good luck and crores to political parties.