CAG's 2017 report pointed out serious irregularities by Martin

The Comptroller and Audit General of India (CAG) in 2017 had flagged serious irregularities by marketing agents, including Future Gaming and Hotel Services owned by lottery king Santiago Martin, in its 40-page report submitted before Parliament.

Future Gaming and Hotel Services is one of the biggest buyers of electoral bonds worth ₹1,368 crore in the recently released data on electoral bonds by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The decision to hold a CAG audit was taken by the Union home ministry in 2015 following rampant complaints of corruption and violations in online and offline lottery by major players, including Martin. "The marketing agents (MA) have cornered 98.60% of sale proceeds of lotteries while the state could receive a meagre 1.40% of sale proceeds, during the audit period 2010-2016," the C&AG report stated.


In its report titled 'Performance Audit on Sikkim State Lotteries', the C&AG noted, "The award of marketing contract of the state's lotteries to various lottery MAs was characterised by lack of transparency, frequent extensions of contract without competitive bidding and considerable delay in finalisation of tenders that led to huge loss of revenue to the state. The operations of lottery business were fully controlled and conducted by the private operators called MA."

Besides Sikkim, Martin operated in Punjab, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and was involved in lottery scams in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, said officials familiar with his dealings.

The report further noted that the home ministry in August 2011 gave directions to all the principal secretaries of state governments in whose territory lottery tickets were sold "to duly be informed of marketing arrangements established by the organising state and give them all details of persons, firms involved in selling, distribution, printing of lotteries."

The home ministry directions also sought "to ensure that the persons, firms involved in selling, distribution, printing of lotteries do not violate any provision of the Act". The ministry advised that officers of states and Centre should meet every few months so that any issues relating to lotteries are mutually resolved, it stated.

According to reports of the central agencies, Martin's lottery empire in the states is estimated to be worth ₹40,000 crore while he also dabbles in real estate, media, construction, software and technology, pharma, energy. His foundation's website mentions him as "founder & chairman of the Martin Group of Companies". "The story of his life is one that epitomizes the success of a man who built nothing, into an empire," it says.