The Income Tax (I-T) department is conducting searches across the country at places belonging to Martin Santiago, also known as Lottery King. Martin's main business is operation of lotteries run by state governments under agreements with them to function as a marketing agent.
A senior IT official said, "The Coimbatore Unit of Investigation Directorate, Chennai has commenced searches under section 132 of I-T Act. "
The searches are on at over 70 premises including Coimbatore, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad.
Mr. Martin is active in West Bengal and North East states where he holds monopoly control in the trade. He is also into real estate business, according to sources.
Published - April 30, 2019 04:59 pm IST