An Australian man has been caught up in a new legal battle in the US alongside rapper Drake and streamer Adin Ross, who allegedly lured users into real-money gambling on an online casino platform.
Per Rolling Stone, the lawsuit, filed in the federal court in Virginia, claims the three men worked with Stake.us to “prey upon consumers”, unlawfully exposing them to the “substantial risks of gambling addiction” and jeopardising their financial well-being.
The two plaintiffs, LaShawnna Ridley and Tiffany Hines, say they were “influenced to participate” in Stake’s “predatorial gambling environment” after viewing Drake’s paid promotion of the site, including live-streamed gambling sessions and giveaways. The complaint says the pair “have been damaged by the false marketing manipulation and abuses” of the three defendants.
According to the complaint, Drake, Ross, and the Australian man identified as George Nguyen, acted as “zealous promoters” of Stake in exchange for payment and access to the platform, which the lawsuit describes as a covert “money transfer conduit.”
Ridley and Hines alleged the three men used Stake’s user-to-user “tipping” feature to directly transfer money among themselves. The complaint characterises the program as “an unlimited and wholly unregulated money transmitter that appears to exist outside the oversight of any financial regulator”. It also alleges the funds were later used to finance fraudulent streams of Drake’s music and “amplification campaigns” that at times targeted competitors with disparaging content.
The Australian man, Nguyen, is identified in the complaint as the owner of the Instagram news-clipping account @grandwizardchatn***a. The lawsuit alleges he served as a “broker and operational facilitator”, receiving cryptocurrency through Stake channels as part of the alleged conspiracy and then “interfacing with bot vendors, supervising coordinated amplification strategies, and integrating paid ‘clipping’ campaigns” on social media platforms including X.
The filing claims public posts, chat logs, and leaked communications document Nguyen’s “direct handling of funds through multiple payment platforms, orchestration of narrative surges, and amplification” alongside Drake and Ross. It alleges the scheme dates back to 2022 and “remains an ongoing and imminent threat of racketeering activity”.
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