By Meg Watson and Cameron Houston
Billionaire Adrian Portelli and his “membership rewards” business LMCT+ have been charged by a consumer watchdog with allegedly conducting a string of illegal lotteries.
South Australia’s acting liquor and gambling commissioner laid the charges against the well-known Melbourne entrepreneur on Thursday following a protracted investigation by the state’s consumer and business services department.
Charge sheets reveal Portelli faces nine counts of being involved in the “conduct of an unlawful lottery”, while his company, Xclusive Tech Pty Ltd, which trades as LMCT+, also faces the same nine charges.
The alleged offences relate to several promotions by Portelli and his business between January 2023 and May 2024, which included prizes of properties bought from Channel Nine’s The Block reality show, cash of up to $3 million and luxury cars. (Channel Nine is owned by Nine Entertainment Co, which is also the owner of this masthead.)
The acting liquor and gambling commissioner alleges Portelli and his business “did not hold a licence to conduct the lottery in South Australia,” according to charge sheets.
The LMCT+ website charges membership fees of up to $100 a month.
Portelli is known to many Australians as “Lambo guy”, after pulling up to an auction on the 2022 season of The Block in a yellow Lamborghini. (The flashy reputation then stuck when he later made headlines for hoisting his $3 million McLaren 57 floors into his $39 million CBD penthouse.)
The businessman bought one property on the popular reality show in 2022, but it was just the beginning.
Portelli came back in 2023 to buy three properties in Hampton East, and last month he secured what he called “the royal flush”: dramatically outbidding the competition on all five homes at a former holiday resort on Phillip Island.
All houses were offered as giveaways to members of LMCT+. “As mayor of Portelli town, I would like to announce a world first,” he wrote on Instagram the day after last month’s finale. “LET’S GIVE AWAY A FKN RESORT!!!”
Adrian Portelli at the 2024 Melbourne Cup.Credit: Getty Images
Though some viewers were cynical about the move, many celebrated him for giving a big win to the season favourites (young sisters Maddy and Charlotte Harry), and the show’s executive producer Julian Cress praised Portelli as a “savvy” businessman for using the platform.
Portelli, 35, has run LMCT+ since 2018 and last year The Australian Financial Review reported the business had an annual revenue of about $60 million.
He has been approached for comment by this masthead.
Portelli has previously insisted his business is a “membership reward service” which makes significant financial contributions to philanthropic causes and communities across Australia.
The South Australian investigation is not the first time the billionaire and his business have faced scrutiny from gaming regulators. The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission and NSW Fair Trading have both investigated complaints about LMCT+ but found no evidence that gaming or lottery laws had been breached.
Portelli will face a mention hearing in the South Australian Magistrate’s Court on January 15. If convicted on all charges, the billionaire faces a maximum penalty of $190,000.
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