Drake accused of using online casino money to inflate music streams in RICO suit

A newly filed civil lawsuit in Virginia accuses rapper Drake, streamer Adin Ross, and the online gambling platform Stake.us of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act by participating in illegal gambling activities and engaging in deceptive advertising practices.

According to HotNewHipHop, the lawsuit claims that Stake.us, the US division of international gambling site Stake.com, operates as an online casino disguised as a “social casino” to evade American gambling regulations.

The plaintiffs argued that Stake.us allowed users to convert virtual currency into cryptocurrency or digital gift cards, effectively facilitating real-money gambling without regulatory oversight.

While Drake is not alleged to have directly operated Stake.us, court filings suggest he earned around $100 million annually through promotional agreements with the platform. The lawsuit asserted that he used Stake’s internal systems to obtain gambling funds and facilitate transfers connected to artificial streaming practices aimed at inflating his music performance metrics.

Adin Ross is also named in the lawsuit for allegedly collaborating with Drake by hosting high-profile gambling livestreams on Stake.us, which purportedly normalized online betting for younger audiences. The plaintiffs claimed that large, unclear financial transfers occurred between Ross and Drake via Stake’s tipping feature, alleged to have funded bot-driven streaming farms and digital amplification services.

Central to the allegations is Stake.us’s tipping system, which is said to allow significant monetary transfers without standard financial scrutiny. The lawsuit references claims that George Nguyen profited from operating bot networks to artificially inflate Drake’s music streams on platforms like Spotify.

The plaintiffs are seeking class-action certification and at least $5 million in damages, with potential damages under RICO statutes being tripled. They are also demanding that Stake.us cease US operations and refund affected users.

Drake has previously promoted Stake on Instagram and the livestreaming platform Kick, owned by Easygo. In a social media post, he mentioned losing $8.2 million after betting $124.5 million within a month. The lawsuit claims that Stake paid him $100 million annually and provided both him and Ross with gambling credits.

While Ross severed his partnership with Stake in 2025, he continues to stream on Kick. Easygo co-founder Ed Craven, whose company owns Kick and Stake’s Australian parent entity, declined to comment on the lawsuit, though he has defended the company in prior legal proceedings.

Stake and its affiliates have faced similar lawsuits in several US states. In response to the latest filing, Stake co-founder Bijan Tehrani expressed confidence in the company’s legal standing. Meanwhile, rapper DDG has publicly supported Drake, Ross, and Stake as the case receives increasing attention. This lawsuit represents a significant moment in ongoing legal controversies surrounding celebrity endorsements of online gambling platforms and accusations of manipulated digital music streaming metrics.