ECI data: Coimbatore lottery tycoon Santiago Martin’s Future Gaming emerges as big donor to TMC, DMK

AITMC received around Rs 540 crore from Santiago Martin’s company while DMK too received around Rs 500 crore

Coimbatore-based lottery company, Future Gaming and Hotel Services Pvt Ltd has emerged as among the major donors to All India Trinamool Congress Party (AITMC) and MK Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) contributing around Rs 500 crore each to these parties, showed the data released by Election Commission of India (ECI) on March 21.

AITMC received around Rs 540 crore from Santiago Martin’s company while DMK too received around Rs 500 crore. Other parties which received electoral bonds funds from Future Gaming include YSR Congress (around Rs 150 crore), Bhartiya Janata Party (around Rs 100 crore), Indian National Congress (around Rs 50 crore), Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (around Rs 11 crore) and Sikkim Democratic Front etc (around Rs 5 crore), data showed.

As the numbers show, TMC and DMK are the biggest receivers of money from Future Gaming. In 2021, the company donated to DMK, YSR Congress, and AITMC. In 2022, DMK, BJP, TMC YSR Congress got money from Future Gaming. Similarly, in 2023, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, INC, DMK, TMC, and Sikkim Democratic Front got money from the company, the ECI data showed.

In total, Future Gaming contributed a total of Rs 1,368 crore through electoral bonds between 2019 and 2023. Founded in December 1991, Future Gaming and Hotel Services Private Limited was registered in Coimbatore by Santiago Martin. The company was in the news on multiple occasions for legal violations and investigations by different agencies for financial irregularities.

Controversial Past

This firm was charged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged money laundering activities. On April 2, 2022, India Today reported that the ED has attached assets worth Rs 409.92 crore in a money laundering case against lottery company Future Gaming and its various sub-distributors.

As per the report, ED has alleged that Future Gaming, its various sub-distributors, and area-distributors criminally conspired together and illegally retained unsold lottery tickets and claimed top prizes on such unsold tickets in the pre-GST period till 2017.

Future Gaming and Hotel Services operates gaming facilities, including casinos, electronic gaming centres and other forms of gaming establishments. It offers a range of games such as slot machines, card games, and other electronic gaming options. Key business of the company include lottery operations, real estate development, hospitality, entertainment and gaming.

In a landmark ruling on February 15, a five-judge Constitution bench had scrapped the Centre's electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous political funding, calling it "unconstitutional" and ordered disclosure of donors, the amount donated by them and the recipients. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has uploaded the data on Electoral Bonds provided by the State Bank of India (SBI) on March 21, as per the directions of the Supreme Court.

One of the two documents uploaded by ECI link, shows the donors to the unique alphanumeric bond number while the other one provides information about the political party that has encashed the bond. Earlier on March 21, the chairperson of SBI filed a compliance affidavit in the Supreme Court, saying that the lender has disclosed all details related to electoral bonds to the ECI.

SBI submitted details such as name of the purchaser of the bond, denomination and specific number of the bond, name of the party that encashed the bond, last four digits of the bank account of the political parties, denomination and number of the bond that has been encashed.

SC cracks whip

On March 18, the top Court had told SBI to stop being selective and make complete disclosure of all details related to the electoral bonds scheme by March 21. It added that the details must include the unique bond numbers that would match the buyers with the recipient political parties.