Australian billionaire Adrian Portelli uses court appearance to promote energy drink

Australian billionaire Adrian Portelli has used a court appearance to promote his new energy drink flavour.

The 35-year-old and his popular rewards club company Xclusive Tech Pty Ltd, which trades as LMCT+, had charges brought against them by South Australia’s Consumer and Business Services last Thursday.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Billionaire businessman Adrian Portelli uses court appearance to promote new energy drink.

Portelli — also known as “Lambo Guy” — was charged with nine counts of conducting or assisting in the conduct of an unlawful lottery, while his business was charged with 10 counts of the same offence.

However, his appearance before Sunshine Magistrates Court in Melbourne was concerning allegations he did burnouts at Diggers Rest in 2020.

Outside court, Portelli would not discuss the allegations — those new or old — but did use the opportunity to promote a new flavour of his Flipside Energy drink.

When he refused to answer questions, a 7NEWS reporter asked: “What would you like to talk about then?”

“The release of the new flavour, the new Flippy flavour,” Portelli responded.

“It’s grape.”

He also hid a can for his social media followers to find.

Portelli is due to face the Adelaide Magistrate’s Court over the unlawful lottery charges on January 15.

Consumer and Business Service alleges unlawful lottery activity was carried out between January 29, 2023, and May 16, 2024.

Court documents earlier this week revealed Portelli and LMCT+ are accused of operating a lottery open to South Australian residents without a licence to do so in the state.

The court documents details allegedly unlawful lotteries for:

• a home seen on The Block in Gisborne, Victoria or a cash prize of $3,000,000
• a Devil Yellow HSV VZ vehicle, valued over $5000
• a Toyota Landcruiser 79 Series vehicle with a Barcrusher 670c, valued about $228,000
• a cash prize of $250,000
• another Victorian property seen on The Block valued at approximately $2,900,000, or a cash prize of $2,500,000
• a home seen on The Block in Hampton East, Victoria, or a cash prize of $2,000,000
• a cash prize of $500,000
• a 2022 Toyota LC79 vehicle, valued about $150,000
• a Holden HSV WM Grange vehicle, valued about $40,000
• a property at Coomera Waters at the Gold Coast in Queensland valued at approximately $1,300,000, or a $1,200,000 cash prize

All 10 alleged unlawful lotteries “involved an element of chance”, meaning they fall under the category of trade promotion lotteries under South Australia’s Lotteries Act 2019.

Portelli hosted a party in his $39,000,000 Melbourne penthouse apartment just hours after unlawful lottery charges were filed against him and his popular rewards club company.

Showing off the $3 million McLaren he had craned up to his apartment while holding his baby son, Portelli posted on Instagram with the caption: “Did someone say penthouse party.”

A group of female dancers were seen at the event as well as popular Australian DJ Havana Brown who performed throughout the night.

Portelli was seen dancing with the DJ behind her decks and at one point did a shoey.

After being slapped with the charges, Portelli had posted on the LMCT+ Instagram account, writing: “It’s OK 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,” he said.

“We still love you and I’ll definitely be visiting to do more grocery voucher handouts.”

LMCT+ markets itself as a “shopping tool and rewards club”.

There are three membership tiers available, charging $19.99, $49.99 or $99.99 per month.

While the platform offers customers the benefits of a rewards program, it also holds regular giveaways.

The first prize in these giveaways can range from a new car to major cash prizes of $500,000 and $1,000,000.

Each membership tier for the platform comes with a different monthly amount of accumulating entries into the giveaways.

Days ago, Portelli was praised for giving away a reported $150,000 in grocery vouchers at two Coles locations in Western Sydney as cost-of-living relief.

He’s performed similar stunts before in Adelaide and Melbourne.