JAKARTA - Canadian rapper Drake is now facing serious legal problems after being accused of promoting an illegal online gambling platform.
Not only about gambling, the singer of "One Dance" is also suspected of using the proceeds from these activities to finance the manipulation of his music streaming numbers on various digital platforms.
The lawsuit against Drake was officially registered at the federal court in Virginia, United States, earlier this week.
Launching Rolling Stone, Drake is not the only name in the lawsuit. There is also internet celebrity Adin Ross, Australian citizen George Nguyen, and Stake's parent company - an online crypto-based casino platform - also dragged as defendants.
The plaintiffs are Virginia residents, LaShawnna Ridley and Tiffany Hines, who accused the defendants of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). They are seeking damages of at least 5 million US dollars or equivalent to around Rp. 79 billion.
The plaintiffs claim they were lured to use the casino's site after seeing paid promotions by Drake, including live-streamed gambling sessions and various giveaway schemes.
Under Virginia law, online casino practices are illegal. However, the lawsuit states that Stake.us continues to operate in the region by exploiting a still-debated legal loophole.
Drake himself is known to have signed a fantastic contract with Stake in 2022, which according to the Financial Times report reached 100 million US dollars.
The lawsuit alleges that the promotional material starring the rapper has misled the public by representing Stake as a legitimate and low-risk platform. This is considered to encourage users to gamble in jurisdictions that actually prohibit online casino practices.
The most shocking allegation is the allegation that funds channeled through Stake were used to finance bot farms and online amplification campaigns. The goal is nothing more than to artificially boost the number of Drake songs played on services such as Spotify.
This question adds to Drake's long list of legal problems related to his relationship with Stake. Previously, a case in Missouri also accused Drake of misleading users by presenting Stake.us as a "social casino" and not an illegal gambling platform.
On the other hand, Drake has publicly revealed that he lost more than 8 million US dollars out of a total bet of 125 million US dollars in just one month in June. His bad record in sports betting even triggered the term "Drake curse" among sports fans around the world.
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