The draw from the home of Adrian ‘Mr Lambo’ Portelli has been marred by technological problems which have forced him to postpone the announcement of the winner.
The billionaire bidder, 35, spent $15 million purchasing the five Phillip Island homes in the 2024 season of The Block and plans to give them all away in an unprecedented raffle.
However, the lottery scheduled through his company LMCT+ hit a major roadblock on Thursday due to technical difficulties, and Adrian decided to “pause” the action.
The winner was due to be revealed at 8.30pm on Boxing Day, but the result was postponed by 24 hours due to the problems.
A post shared on Instagram read: ‘NOTICE: Due to technical difficulties, winners will be drawn tomorrow at 8:30pm AEDT. The promotion has ended at the indicated time.
‘No more entries will be generated for this promotional draw. Thank you for your support and understanding.”
The raffle for Adrián ‘Mr Lambo’ Portelli’s house has been marred by technological problems that have forced him to postpone the announcement of the winner
In a video, Adrian explained that the draw had closed at 8pm as planned, but due to the high volume of traffic on the website, the LMCT+ systems failed.
Although the issue was fixed in time, Adrian said he still postponed the raffle so he could “go over everything personally” and make sure it was running successfully.
“Unfortunately, this is what happens when you run things live, that’s how you know everything is legit because things like this happen,” he said.
“It’s annoying, I’m frustrated, but I’d rather be safe and preserve my company’s reputation and my reputation and not let them down or break trust in any way.”
‘When I’m sure everything is working as it should, we’ll choose the winners. Tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. we will draw the winner.
“The guys will work all night, testing everything and making sure it’s in order and then we’ll continue.”
The lucky winner will take home all five Phillip Island properties or $8 million in cash.
The LMCT+ ‘rewards club’ allows customers to pay for different levels of membership to receive entries into luxury gifts.
The winner was due to be revealed at 8.30pm on Boxing Day, but the result was postponed by 24 hours due to the problems, with Adrian sharing a video detailing the fights.
During the 2024 finale of The Block, Adrian made history by purchasing all five properties for a whopping $15 million.
In his final year of bidding on the show, Adrian ensured Maddy and Charlotte Harry became the youngest winners when he bought their house for $3.5 million.
Adrian’s company, LMCT+, has frequently raffled off properties from The Block, including purchasing Steph and Gian’s winning home for $5 million last year.
Shortly after purchasing the entire Phillip Island home site, Adrian announced his massive ‘resort giveaway’ via LMCT+.
However, the draw hurdle comes weeks after Adrian was charged with allegedly conducting/assisting in conducting an illegal lottery.
Adrian and LMCT+ face a total of 19 charges from South Australia’s consumer watchdog.
The state’s Business and Consumer Services office launched an investigation into the operations of the Melbourne businessman’s company in September last year.
The government department then laid charges against Adrian and Xclusive Tech Pty Ltd, trading as LMCT+, on 27 November.
The bidder, 35, spent $15 million purchasing the five Phillip Island homes in the 2024 season of The Block and will be giving them all away in the record-breaking raffle (pictured on the site).
The charges cover alleged illegal lotteries held in South Australia between January 29, 2023 and May 16, 2024.
Court documents reveal that prizes in the alleged LMCT+ lotteries included cars, three Victorian properties as seen on The Block, one of which was valued at around $2.9 million, and cash prizes of up to $3 million. of dollars.
Adrian faces nine counts of conducting/aiding to conduct an illegal lottery, and the company faces ten counts of the same charge.
If convicted on all charges, Adrian and his company could face a maximum penalty of $190,000.
The case is scheduled for its first mention on January 15 in the Adelaide Magistrates Court.