Prominent entrepreneur Adrian Portelli has been exonerated from charges of operating illegal lotteries, although his company has been slapped with a $40,000 fine.
Portelli’s company, Xclusive Tech Pty Ltd, which operates under the brand LMCT+, was convicted on 10 counts of conducting lotteries without authorization.
Following the court’s ruling, Portelli took to social media to share a news article about the decision, expressing his relief with the words, “thank you very much.”
He stated in his post, “I’m in the clear, but the business faces a $40,000 fine.”
Portelli further commented, “They could have profited more by simply issuing us the permits we were eligible for from the start.”
The allegations, brought forward by South Australia’s Consumer and Business Services, accused Portelli’s firm of lacking the necessary license to run 10 lotteries between January 29, 2023, and May 16, 2024.
Magistrate Melanie Murton said that she accepted that “the parties’ swords were apparently drawn” over whether the commissioner should issue a licence to Xclusive Tech to conduct trade promotion lotteries in SA.
Portelli’s company offers members subscriptions to a rewards club that includes entries to win cars and properties.
Under SA law, any trade promotion lotteries with prizes exceeding $5000 need a licence to operate and entries must be free of charge.
“The primary products being bought and sold for value were the draw entries,” Burton found.
“In my view, the draw entries are at the very heart of the transactions.
“I find, beyond any reasonable doubt, that XT conducted 10 standard lotteries as alleged.”
She fined the company $40,000. Each offence carried a maximum penalty of $10,000.
But she found Portelli not guilty.
“I am not prepared to find that the simple act of drawing an entry in a lottery is ⦠sufficient to bring it within the scope of the substantive offence of assisting in the conduct of an unlawful lottery,” Burton said.
Portelli gained fame as “the Lambo Guy” in 2022, after arriving at a house auction for The Block in a yellow Lamborghini.
The Block is broadcast by Nine Entertainment, the publisher of this website.
In the 2024 series of the reality show, he spent $15.03 million to acquire all five homes on offer.
While three of the four prize properties were featured on The Block, nothing in this case turned on that, Burton said.
Portelli was not in court for the decision.
Outside court during the two-day trial last September, he agreed the prosecution was a waste of taxpayers’ money.
“I’m not going to sit down and let them walk all over me, I’m going to fight it,” he said.
He had previously stated on social media that if he were convicted, he would “round it up to $200,000”.
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