CBI files case against Martin, Kennedy

KOCHI: The CBI on Saturday filed a FIR in the multi-crore lottery scam against lottery kingpin Santiago Martin and his kin A John Kennedy.It filed four different cases at the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, with Martin and Kennedy being accused in three, including cases for violation of Lottery Act, forgery and cheating.The CBI also arraigned the agents of Bhutan lotteries in the state.In the first case registered on a complaint filed by former ADGP and head of the Lottery Monitoring Cell Sibi Mathews, the CBI submitted that the accused Martin and Kennedy aided each other and cheated the government and others by selling Bhutan Lotteries.They are charged under the provisions of Kerala Lotteries (regulation) 1998 Act.The second case is regarding a fire at the godown of Megha Distributors in Palakkad on September 20, 2009. The third one is related to the printing of fake lottery tickets of other states.Apart from Martin and Kennedy, partners of Mahalakshmi Offset Printers are also implicated in this case.The fourth case was for making the dealers and agents believe that fake tickets were original and for prompting them to sell tickets. Though agents and dealers were also implicated, their names were not recorded in the FIR.Martin was granted permission for selling Bhutan Lottery on the basis of a contract between the Central Government and the Royal Bhutan Government. The contract is in force since 2008.According to it, the logos of Bhutan Government and the state government should be stamped on tickets.John Kennedy of Megha Distributors was the dealer for distributor in the state.Another condition was that the amount of unclaimed tickets should be remitted to the state consolidated fund or with the ledger account within 60 days.Besides, the tickets should have been printed in a government press.It is alleged in the FIR that fake tickets were printed in private presses in Tamil Nadu, violating the rules and cheating the state government. It is further alleged that the accused printed single digit lottery tickets also.Meanwhile, the state government has issued a fresh notification for a CBI probe regarding alleged payment of Rs 2 crore by Santiago Martin to 'Deshabhimani' daily and allegations against VA Arun Kumar, son of VS Achuthanandan, on his alleged involvement in lottery cases.