The electoral bond data was published on the official website of the Election Commission of India on Thursday, March 14, and the list showed that a company called Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR was the company that donated the highest amount to political parties.
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The electoral bond data was provided to the ECI by the State Bank of India on the orders of the Supreme Court. As per the data now available, Coimbatore-based Future Gaming and Hotel Services Ltd has donated Rs 1,368 crore to political parties through electoral bonds.
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According to the list released by the ECI, around 1,300 companies have purchased electoral bonds worth more than Rs 12,000 crore over a five-year period, with only Future Gaming having purchased more than Rs 1,000 crore.
The future of gaming and hotel services: everything you need to know
Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR was founded in 1991 by Santiago Martin, who is known as the lottery king of India. The company was established in Tamil Nadu, but after lotteries were banned in the state, Martin moved most of his operations to Kerala and Karnataka.
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Future Gaming currently operates in 13 Indian states where lotteries are still legal: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim and West Bengal. In Nagaland and Sikkim,
The company is the sole distributor of “Dear Lottery”. Future Gaming operates in South India through its subsidiary Martin Karnataka and in the North East through its subsidiary Martin Sikkim Lottery.
Founder Santiago Martin is chairman of the All India Federation of Lottery Trade and Allied Industries. His company, Future Gaming, employs over 1,000 people.
Despite being one of India’s largest lottery companies, Future Gaming has been hit with multiple charges from the Enforcement Directorate, which has alleged that the company is illegally diverting lottery proceeds to buy gifts and incentives, PTI reported.
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Additionally, according to news agency PTI, the Enforcement Directorate said in its investigation that Future Gaming had illegally charged around Rs 4 billion between 2014 and 2017. The Enforcement Directorate also conducted searches at the house of Santiago Martin’s son-in-law in Tamil Nadu in connection with the money laundering case.
Moreover, Martin himself is being questioned by the ED as part of a separate money laundering case filed by the CBI against him and others.
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