Drake and Adin Ross accused of using online casino funds to buy automated streams

Drake and American livestreamer Adin Ross have been accused in a US civil class action of using money from online casino Stake to pay for automated streams in a bid to inflate the singer’s royalties and popularity on music streaming platforms. Two women in Virginia have filed the class action seeking US$5m from Stake.com, the celebrities and another Australian internet personality, alleging breaches of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) and consumer protection laws.

The lawsuit alleges Stake.us’s anonymised design enabled transfers via an anonymised tip system to an Australian man named in court documents as George Nguyen, who allegedly operated accounts grandwizardchatn**** and Grandavious and paid bot vendors; court documents also allege Drake transferred millions, including $100,000 and $10,000 tips to Ross, and say public posts, chat logs and leaked communications prove Nguyen’s role.

Stake, a Curacao-licensed e-casino that is officially banned in dozens of countries including the US, Australia and the UK, dismissed the claims. A Stake spokesperson said: "For the record, Stake.us does not have a tipping function that could be used in this way. This is a nonsense claim and we are not concerned about this lawsuit." The filing notes that Stake.us’s American arm uses e-tokens rather than direct real-money gambling and that no one has been charged criminally in relation to the allegations.

Key Topics

Culture, Drake, Adin Ross, Stake, George Nguyen, Rico Act