Drake, streamer Adin Ross and George Nguyen are facing a federal class-action RICO lawsuit alleging they promoted an illegal online gambling operation, Stake.us, and used its proceeds to artificially boost Drake’s music streams.
The lawsuit, filed in Virgina by LaShawnna Ridley and Tiffany Hineson behalf of other Stake.us users, seeks at least $5 million in damages, based on two violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and one of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.
The suit accuses Drake and Ross of promoting an illegal online casino while using proceeds from the site to artificially inflate streams of his music. The lawsuit also claims the men used the website Stake.us to “obscure transmissions of money” to advance “their ongoing music botting campaigns.” Additionally, the lawsuit alleges the following:
- Illegal Gambling Promotion: The suit claims Stake.us operates illegally by calling itself a “social casino” with virtual currency, when its “Stake Cash” can be redeemed for real money.
- Deceptive Marketing: Drake and Ross, described as “paid” promoters, allegedly used funds from Stake during live-streamed gambling sessions to make the platform seem legitimate.
- Money Laundering/Transfer Conduit: The lawsuit alleges that a “tipping” feature was used to transfer money between defendants to hide the flow of funds.
- Music Stream Manipulation: The suit claims funds from the tipping system were used to finance “botting campaigns” and “streaming farms” to inflate Drake’s music play counts on platforms like Spotify, distorting charts and algorithms.
Stake, founded in Australia in 2017, is a multibillion-dollar company whose fortunes skyrocketed during the cryptocurrency boom. It signed an endorsement deal with Drake in 2022 worth a reported $100 million a year, and the rapper has since undertaken frequent livestreams of online gambling sessions and giveaways. This past August, Drake seemingly fell out with the platform after having withdrawal attempts blocked. The matter appeared resolved in October when he posted a video staging his discovery of a $1 million balance restored to his account.
While the Stake website uses “Stake Cash” and “Gold Coins” as virtual currency, the suit alleges that Stake Cash has real dollar value and can be cashed in by users for cryptocurrency, amounting to real gambling. Drake and Ross were paid to promote the platform by participating in livestreamed gambling with cash “surreptitiously” provided by Stake, according to the filing.
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