Certified loverboy and rapper Aubrey Drake Graham — famously known as Drake — has been accused of using money from Aussie-founded online casino Stake to boost streaming numbers on his songs on platforms like Spotify.
Per a US Class action lawsuit, launched by LaShawnna Ridley and Tiffany Hines in Virginia, Stake, alongside celebrities like Drake and livestreamer Adin Ross, have been accused of alleged breaches of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) and consumer protection laws, the Guardian reports.
Stake.com — a Curacao-licensed online casino — is banned in multiple countries, including the US, Australia and the UK. The American version of its site, Stake.us, is a free-to-play social online casino that doesn’t use real money. Instead, gamblers use e-tokens, which are sometimes free of charge or can be purchased and withdrawn as crypto.
However, per the lawsuit, Drake, Ross and another internet personality, George Nguyen, are accused of using Stake’s anonymous tip system to transfer winnings and money amongst themselves.
It’s also alleged that the money was used to pay bot operators, which were then used to “artificially inflate” plays on Drake’s music on multiple streaming sites.
“Stake.us’ platform’s design, which masks counterparties and camouflages withdrawals as generic transactions, [stymies] scrutiny and [obstructs] tracing of illicit proceeds,” the court filings read in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, per the Australian Financial Review.
“Through Stake’s Tipping function, Defendants have financed their combined artificial streaming (‘botting’) to create fraudulent streams of Drake’s music; fabricate popularity; disparage competitors and music label executives; distort recommendation algorithms; and distribute financing for all of the foregoing, while concealing the flow of funds.
“Drake — acting directly and through willing and knowledgeable co-conspirators — has deployed automated bots and streaming farms to artificially inflate play counts… across major platforms, such as Spotify.”
The lawsuit claims the scheme began back in 2022 and “remains an ongoing and imminent threat of racketeering activity”.
‘A spokesperson for Stake slammed the claims on Monday (US time) made in the lawsuit, labelling it as “nonsense”.
“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 spokesperson told the Guardian.
Alongside these claims, Ridley and Hines alleged they suffered harm due to Drake’s promotional Stake content, claiming it encouraged them to gamble online. The women also accused Stake of harming users by encouraging them to gamble illegally.
Per NBC News, Drake has been a brand ambassador for both Stake.us and Stake.com since 2022, and has since promoted the site on both Instagram and Kick, a livestreaming platform owned by Stake’s ultimate parent company, Easygo.
A lawsuit similar to this recent case was brought against Stake and Drake in the state of Missouri back in October, and the company is currently facing lawsuits in other US states, with the cases claiming it has been operating illegally.
Easygo has denied these claims, with a spokesperson telling The Australian, “We reject allegations that have been made in the media in relation to this potential claim and will vigorously defend this and all such claims.”
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