M K Damodaran appears in Kerala High Court for lottery king Santiago Martin

Kochi: Amidst widespread criticism, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s legal advisor M.K. Damodaran appeared for lottery fraudster Santiago Martin in a plea challenging the directorate of enforcement's decision to attach Martin's properties. The directorate on Monday informed the Kerala High Court that the sale of illegal lotteries of other states by Santiago Martin was an offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The submission was made when a petition was filed by Santiago Martin challenging the order of the adjudicating authority attaching his properties under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) Act. The joint director of the directorate, Kochi, submitted that the petitioner could have moved the appellate tribunal under the PML Act instead of filing a writ petition before the High Court.

Besides, the adjudicating authority had ample power to invalidate the provisional attachment order if the property attached was not involved in money laundering acts. Santiago Martin argued that a proceeding for the offence of money laundering must be initiated as a result of criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence. The activity under Lotteries (Regulations) Act is not a criminal activity, he contended.

The state of Sikkim is organising, conducting and promoting its lotteries and the petitioner is a validly appointed agent discharging contractual obligations. It is not prohibited in law and is not a criminal activity. He argued that the directorate has no jurisdiction to initiate proceedings under Prevention of Money laundering Act. The state of Sikkim alone is competent to allege deceit and cheating, he argued. As many as 32 FIRs were registered against Martin alleging that the lotteries sold were fake and counterfeit.