The Madras High Court has issued a notice to the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on 39 appeals filed by the Martin family, challenging the attachment of properties worth over ₹900 crore in a money laundering case.
The appeals, filed by Santiago Martin, his wife, and others, challenge an order of the Appellate Tribunal passed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which upheld ED's provisional attachment order.
The ED had first registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against Martin and others in 2014, on the basis of a CBI chargesheet concerning an alleged loss of ₹910.29 crore to the Government of Sikkim.
Martin and the others have argued that ED's case initially rested on the allegation that a partnership firm generated unlawful gains, but later changed its position and claimed that Future Gaming and related entities owned or operated by the Martin family generated the entire proceeds of crime.
The high court will hear the appeals further in July this year.
