Melbourne billionaire Adrian Portelli’s court fight over hooning charges
The billionaire known for his extravagant purchases on reality TV series The Block is disputing claims he was hooning around a roundabout and arguing police “picked on” him.
A rich-lister car enthusiast charged with hooning offences has faced court as his lawyers attacked police claims he was seen “deliberately sliding” around a roundabout.
Adrian Portelli, dubbed “Lambo Guy” in the media, was charged just days before Christmas in 2020 over an alleged driving incident on Licence Rd in the Melbourne suburb Diggers Rest on December 22.
The 35-year-old entrepreneur appeared in the Sunshine Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning for the start of a two-day hearing to test the charges of careless driving, failing to have proper control of a vehicle on a road and driving in a manner causing one or more wheels of a motor vehicle to lose traction.
Prosecutor Alex Turner told the court it was alleged Mr Portelli, who is also known for his outlandish buying sprees on reality TV show The Block, deliberately lost traction while driving around the roundabout on the wet and rainy afternoon.
He said two Highway Patrol officers were driving on a parallel road and spotted the grey Mercedes C63, which was impounded.
Mr Turner said Mr Portelli was intercepted a few minutes later and allegedly had the following exchange with a police officer.
“G’day mate, picked a bad day to do circlework around the roundabout, mate,” Leading Senior Constable Glenn Hutton said.
“Oh mate, tell me about it,” Mr Portelli allegedly responded.
Mr Turner said the prosecution would argue this was an “implied admission” of guilt, but Mr Portelli’s lawyer took exception, claiming the case had been ongoing for four years and Tuesday was the first she’d heard of this.
“This is not a trial by ambush,” Penny Marcou said.
Ms Marcou told the court the whole case was based on the eyewitness claims of two officers, and the defence had commissioned an expert report that would cast doubt on what they could have seen.
According to the lawyer, the report by Dr Shane Richardson concluded it was unlikely police were able to see Mr Portelli’s tyres spinning and “possibly” could see the roof and windows of his car from their position.
Giving evidence, Leading Senior Constable Christopher Ford told the court he first noticed the car when Constable Hutton pointed it and said, “Hey, check this bloke out.”
He told the court the “way the vehicle was moving was consistent with a controlled slide by the driver”.
Constable Ford was challenged by Ms Marcou, who submitted it was not possible for him to see much of the vehicle from 250m away and through the rain.
“I don’t agree with that,” he told the court.
Ms Marcou also challenged Constable Ford, suggesting he had changed his evidence, which he denied, after receiving the expert report.
Constable Hutton gave evidence he spotted Mr Portelli accelerate into the roundabout before performing two 180 degree turns in a “doughnut” manoeuvre.
He said he observed the car “fishtail” out of the intersection.
Constable Hutton agreed with the suggestion the high-flying businessman had been polite and cordial throughout the interaction.
The officer disagreed with a suggestion by Mr Portelli’s defence he had targeted the “very nice car”.
“You jumped the gun, made assumptions and made a decision to take the beautiful new Mercedes off him didn’t you?” Ms Marcou questioned.
Constable Hutton disagreed, saying; “I take offence with you pointing at me like that but I made the decision to impound the car”.
“You’re inferring I picked on your client,” he said.
“Exactly,” she responded.
“I suggest to you you targeted Mr Portelli right from the very beginning and its been continued for four years by Victoria Police.”
The officer disagreed.
Mr Portelli made headlines last week after he and his membership platform LMCT+ were charged in South Australia with conducting or assisting in the conduct of an unlawful lottery.
LMCT+ markets itself as a “shopping tool and rewards club” with monthly membership subscription tiers and regular giveaways.
Mr Portelli famously purchased every home on reality TV show The Block this season for a total of $15m, committing to raffle the five properties off through LMCT+.
Responding to the allegations on Instagram pages, Mr Portelli said: “It’s okay SA we still love you.
“Your gambling commissioner won’t allow you to win major life changing prizes so I’ve decided to run exclusive, DAILY $1000 cash giveaways to you guys instead.
“We still love you and I’ll definitely be visiting to do more grocery voucher handouts.”
Mr Portelli said “no comment” as he left court and got into a grey Lamborghini Urus.
The hearing will continue on Wednesday.