One of BJP’s recent acquisitions in its aggressive nation-wide membership drive it seems is Charles Jose Martin, the son of alleged lottery scam kingpin Santiago Martin.
Santiago Martin is the Founder and Chairman of Martin Group of Companies, and his son Charles Jose is the Managing Director of the company. The Coimbatore-based Group has presence in various businesses, including real estate, lottery, construction, fabric, spinning mills. Charles Jose is also director of nine companies run by the family, and the director of L and C Media which used to run music channel SS Music.
Who Knows About it?
Tamil magazine Junior Vikatan reported the news first. Though Martin family remained unavailable, a source close to the family said that Jose Charles Martin had interacted with the BJP leadership, but was unsure if he joined the party officially.
He is a youngster who may want to contribute to society. There is no problem in his joining.
–Tamilisai Soundarajan, Chief, BJP Tamil Nadu
A source in the party said that the event in Delhi happened around three months ago. Another source said Martin joined six months ago. Strangely, Jose Charles Martin’s public profile on Facebook makes no mention of this development.
In fact, a few other BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu who The News Minute spoke to said they were unaware of the move and were surprised themselves when they heard the news.
Cases Against Santiago Martin
Santiago Martin’s name cropped up recently when Karnataka top cop Alok Kumar was suspended for allegedly being involved in a multi-state lottery scam.
According to a profile by The Indian Express, Santiago faces 32 cases in Kerala alone, all of which are being investigated by the CBI.
These cases were filed from 2007 onwards. Santiago is allegedly the kingpin of a multi-state lottery scam that spans Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Maharashtra.
Though there are multiple cases against Martin senior and his wife in many states, the family has always had political connections.
In 2011, Santiago Martin produced a Rs 20 crore film based on a script written by DMK chief M Karunanidhi.
He was arrested during AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa’s tenure in August 2011 in connection with a land grab case by the Salem police in Tamil Nadu. Since then, he reportedly began to distance himself from the DMK.
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