The top 3 electoral bond donors and their run-ins with investigators

Quite a few interesting names have popped up from the data that the State Bank of India submitted to the Election Commission of India. The electoral bond data has raised concerns from certain quarters, especially concerning donations made by top corporations, some of which had faced action previously from investigative agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, the Income Tax Department, or the CBI.

Topping the list is lottery and online gaming company Future Gaming and Hotels Pvt Ltd. Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR and Future Gaming and Hotel Services Pvt Ltd firms purchased electoral bonds worth ₹1,368 crore between April 2019 and Jan 2024.  Both entities are run by Santiago Martin, famously known as the 'Lottery King'.

The ED had begun a money laundering probe against Future Gaming in early 2019. By July of the same year, the agency had attached company assets worth over ₹250 crore. On April 2, 2022, ED attached movable assets worth ₹409.92 crore in this case. On April 7, five days after the attachment of these assets, Future Gaming bought ₹100 crore in electoral bonds

ED initiated an investigation under the provisions of the anti-money laundering law (PMLA) against Martin and his company, M/s Future Gaming Solutions (P) Ltd (now called M/s Future Gaming and Hotel Services (P) Ltd and formerly Martin Lottery Agencies Ltd) based on a chargesheet filed by the CBI.

According to ED, Martin and others conspired to violate the provisions of Lottery Regulation Act, 1998, and to obtain wrongful gain by cheating the Sikkim Government. “Martin and his associates made illegal gains to the extent of ₹910.3 crore on account of inflating the prize-winning tickets claim (from April 1, 2009, to August 31, 2010)," ED said in a statement on July 22, 2019.

The next big name on the list is Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), an entity run by Krishna Reddy which bought bonds worth ₹1,000 crore between 2019 and 2024. The company is known for key projects such as the Kaleswaram Dam project, Zojila Tunnel and Polavaram Dam.

On April 12, 2019, MEIL had purchased poll bonds worth ₹50 crore. In October the same year, the I-T department initiated action against the company, followed by an Enforcement Directorate probe.

In 2023, the government rejected a $1 billion investment proposal from Chinese electric car maker BYD and its Hyderabad-based partner MEIL to set up an electric vehicle manufacturing plant.

The third big name on the list is Anil Aggarwal’s Vedanta Group. Vedanta is the fifth largest donor, having purchased bonds worth ₹376 crore. with the first tranche having been purchased in April 2019.

In mid-2018, the ED claimed it had evidence related to Vedanta Group’s alleged involvement in the bribe-for-visa case. ED marked the case to CBI as a corruption case in 2022. The ED later began a money laundering probe too against the company.

On April 16, 2019, Vedanta Ltd purchased bonds worth over ₹39 crore, according to the data, and over the next four years, till November 2023, bought bonds worth ₹337.

Some of the other companies facing action from investigative agencies and whose names are on the top donors' list include:

The company is among the top 15 donors — having donated ₹123 crore through bonds The company has faced probes by central agencies in the coal block allocation case, The ED raided the premises of the company and its promoter Navin Jindal in connection with a fresh case of forex violation in April 2022.

The first tranche of purchases was made on October 7, 2022.

Rithwik Projects Pvt Ltd purchased bonds to the tune of ₹45 crore in this period. Rithwik Projects is owned by politician CM and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) member Ramesh. In October 2018, the I-T department raided the premises associated with the company and Ramesh, who was then an MP. The IT department alleged that the company had siphoned off ₹100 crore.

Months later, Ramesh joined the BJP.

The company has made donations of ₹49 crore in the period. The ED arrested company director P Sarath Reddy in November 2022 in the Delhi liquor case. While the company made donations of about ₹2.5 crore in 2021, a majority of its electoral bond purchases were made in 2022 and 2023.

Hetero Pharma purchased electoral bonds in April 2022, and July and October 2023 after IT raids that allegedly found ₹550 crore in unaccounted income linked to the firm. Hetero Pharma is known for manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients, along with drugs for cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes, among others.

Rashmi Cement, which has donated ₹64 crore to political parties, has been under the ED scanner since 2022. On July 13, 2022, the ED carried out searches at three places in West Bengal in a case related to the loss of ₹73.40 crore to public exchequer “by deliberately mis-declaring the facts and mis-utilising the dual-freight policy of the Indian Railways to avail the wrongful benefits of a lower tariff of freight for transportation of iron ore”..

Similarly, Shirdi Sai Electricals, which purchased bonds worth ₹40 crore in January this year, was raided by the IT department last year.