Drake Lawsuit Exposes RICPO Charges for Illegal Gambling Scheme With Adin Ross

A Virginia federal class action lawsuit has pulled Drake and streamer Adin Ross into serious racketeering allegations about their Stake.us online casino platform promotions. The lawsuit details how Drake, Ross, and Australian national George Nguyen allegedly employed Stake’s user-to-user “tipping” system to move funds secretly between accounts. The legal documents describe this system as “an unlimited and wholly unregulated money transmitter” that operates without financial oversight.

More concerning are court documents that show Drake’s alleged transfer of millions through this scheme. These transfers included USD 100,000 and USD 10,000 tips to Ross. The funds supposedly helped run “automated bots and streaming farms to artificially inflate play counts of Drake’s music across major platforms”.

These allegations center on what the plaintiffs call a hidden money pipeline. Drake, Ross, and George Nguyen reportedly moved funds between themselves using Stake’s “tipping” feature, which the lawsuit labels as “a wholly unregulated money transmitter”.

The money transfers had a clear goal: to pay for artificial streams on major platforms like Spotify. This scheme tried to “mislead royalty and recommendation engines” and “fabricate popularity” for Drake’s music catalog.

This alleged scheme started in 2022 and has deeply affected the industry. It reportedly “suppressed authentic artists” and limited “consumers’ access to legitimate content by undermining the integrity of curated experiences”.

Stake.us Denies Allegations As Legal Scrutiny Intensifies

Stake.us strongly denies the allegations made in the Drake lawsuit. The company has already rejected claims in the Missouri case and suggested it would “defend itself against all such claims”. A company representative recently called the complaint “a nonsense claim” and declared they were “not concerned about this lawsuit”.

Legal pressure keeps mounting, though. Multiple class action lawsuits target Stake.us in different states. Los Angeles city attorneys have filed a separate civil action that asks courts to shut down operations and give players their money back. The complaint describes the platform as creating “a predatory, dangerous gambling environment” that “misleads” Californians.

Stake maintains its innocence through these challenges. The company argues that it follows a legitimate sweepstakes model with free-to-play options, and not real money casinos similar to the ones you find at CasinoVergelijker. The platform’s dual-currency system remains controversial, as plaintiffs claim it essentially makes real-money gambling possible.

In addition, a federal court in California made an interesting move by sending a Stake.us case to private arbitration instead of ruling on whether it’s legal. This decision shows how complex the regulatory questions around these platforms really are.

“Sweepstakes casinos face a harsh legal environment now. California banned them in October 2025, while New York and New Jersey have similar laws in place. Maine and Indiana have introduced new legislation against these platforms, and lawmakers in Tennessee and Florida want similar restrictions.”

What This Means For The Music And Gambling Industries

The Drake lawsuit shows concerning connections between the gambling and music industries that could change both sectors. Influencer marketing has become a revolutionary force in gambling promotion. The industry has seen almost fifty percent yearly global growth over the last several years.

Influencer marketing in gambling creates legal and ethical issues beyond this case. The lawsuit explains weaknesses in streaming platforms’ measurement of success and royalty distribution. Yes, it is possible that if courts view streaming manipulation as a potential RICO violation, artists who feel suppressed could file new types of legal claims.

The case reveals gaps in streaming regulation. The result could enable independent artists to break down artificially boosted streams. They could ask for clarity about playlist inclusion and make platforms answer for suppression tactics that hurt independent musicians.

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