Money Laundering Case: SC Stays Trial against ‘Lottery King’ Santiago Martin

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the proceedings before a special court in a money laundering case involving ‘lottery king’ Santiago Martin.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan issued a notice on Martin’s plea challenging the March 16 order of a special PMLA court in Kerala’s Ernakulam, which dismissed his petition to suspend the trial in the money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Appearing for Martin, Senior advocate Aditya Sondhi and advocate Rohini Musa, argued that the special court should have acknowledged that the trial in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case can only begin after the conclusion of the trial in the predicate case.
On March 16, the special court rejected Martin’s request to suspend the trial in the ED case until the conclusion of the trial in the predicate offence, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case linked to an alleged lottery scam. In his appeal to the top court, Martin argued that the chargesheet filed by the CBI serves as the predicate case for the ED’s money laundering case against him and others.

In his petition to the apex court, Martin asserted that the chargesheet filed by the CBI constitutes the predicate case upon which the ED initiated a money laundering case against him and others. He cited the 2022 verdict in the Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary case, stating that proceedings under the PMLA cannot proceed if there is an acquittal or discharge in the predicate case.