The lucky couple who won a $4.2million home that featured in The Block claim their dream lottery win has become a nightmare after it was stripped of key items.
The Griffin family have accused Adrian ‘Lambo Guy’ Portelli of taking back more than $100,000 worth of goods from the home before handing it over to them.
The property investor known for his flash lifestyle and luxury cars said he purchased the home in Gisborne, 54km north-west of Melbourne, in November after it passed at auction on the reality TV series.
Mr Portelli put the home up as as the star prize through his lottery company LMCT+, which was won by the Griffins from Ballarat, Victoria.
But the family unearthed CCTV footage of Mr Portelli removing luxury items including a robo-mower, treadmill, wine, Smeg appliances and a BBQ smoker.
Now the family have hit Mr Portelli with a bill for $102,000 for a long list of priced items, including candles and books, they claim are missing from the ‘fully-furnished’ home.’
The Griffins are also said to have a website ready to go live, entitled ‘Our LMCT nightmare’, if Mr Portelli doesn’t pay up.
Lucky couple Kevin and Andrea Griffin who won a $4.2million home that featured in The Block claim their dream lottery win has become a nightmare after it was stripped of key items
The Griffin family have accused Adrian ‘Lambo Guy’ Portelli of taking back more than $100,000 worth of goods from the home before handing it over to them
Property investor Adrian ‘Lambo Guy’ Portell was caught on camera removing items from the home before it was handed over to the family
Plasterer Kevin Griffin and his wife Andrea say they believed they were entitled to everything seen in the lottery’s promotional videos for the home.
But Mr Portelli insists the luxury extras were just used for staging for the promotional videos and not part of the giveaway under the lottery’s terms and conditions.
He accused the couple of being ungrateful and posted a clip to TikTok showing Ms Griffin spotting the wine fridge is missing and the couple finding faults in the home.
Mr Portelli says the couple spotted CCTV cameras left behind by Channel Nine’s production team and alleges they ‘hacked into them’.
They then found the damning footage of him removing the missing items from around the home before they moved in, triggering the list of demands.
The couple say they were shocked by what they saw.
‘We were just like, what the hell?’ Ms Griffin told the Herald Sun.
‘Why has he done this?’
Mr Portelli has now hit back at the claims by posting out-takes from the handover video showing the family complaining as they were given the keys of the home.
The new clips sparked outrage, with some viewers savaging the family online for being ungrateful for quibbling over the missing items.
Mr Portelli’s posted was inundated with 1700 replies slamming the couple for their reaction to being handed the dream home.
Plasterer Kevin Griffin and his wife Andrea (pictured with Adrian Portelli) say they believed they were entitled to everything seen in the lottery’s promotional videos for the home
The entrepreneur was featured on the 2022 season of The Block where he ‘purchased’ the Gisborne home (pictured, Portelli with Scott Cam)
CCTV footage shows Portelli and a group of men taking items from the Gisborne property
‘You could have given me that home stripped of all the furniture and I would have been over the moon,’ posted one.
‘Australia’s biggest rental crisis and we have people out here that win a house more than some people would ever earn in their life and they complain,’ said another.
‘Shame on them. Some people can’t even put food on the table. They need humbling massively.’
The couple had been paying a $20 per month membership with Portelli’s business LMCT+ for over a year before they won the home through a giveaway.
LMCT+, which Portelli founded in 2018, sells subscriptions that cost up to $100 a month.
Subscribers are entered into exclusive competitions, with prizes including homes, bikes, cars and boats, and they also get offers from motor vehicle businesses.
Portelli claimed he had been sent abusive and threatening messages labelling him and his team ‘thieves’ as a result of the vision being posted online.
LMCT+, which Portelli (pictured, centre) founded in 2018, is being investigated over allegations that it broke gambling laws
Portelli (pictured), who is also known as ‘Lambo Guy’ and lives a life of luxury, previously told Daily Mail Australia $500million was a ‘conservative estimate’ of his net worth
Portelli (pictured left) hit back at the stealing claims in a video he posted, where he claimed the items taken by himself and his team in the clip ‘weren’t part of the giveaway’
‘Unfortunately, it’s people like this that ruin it for everyone and it makes us not want to do things like this again,’ Portelli added.
He said he’s also been issued legal letters.
‘Whatever I do with these items is up to me. Wherever I want to use them personally or I want to use them to stage future giveaway houses, who bloody cares,’ Portelli said.
It comes as Portelli’s business, LMCT+, is being investigated in two states over allegations that it broke gambling laws.
South Australia’s Consumer and Business Services and the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission have each received complaints about LMCT+ and are investigating.
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