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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Tory Shepherd

‘It’s not a loophole’: how does a firm that runs a ‘rewards club’ give away houses from The Block?

Adrian Portelli LMCT The Block NSW Fair Trading
Domestic swimming pool with a palm tree next to it
Adrian Portelli last week bought all five houses featured on Channel Nine’s The Block. Photograph: Channel Nine/The Block

Adrian Portelli is adamant that his company is not exploiting a legal loophole by giving away prizes worth millions of dollars, now including all five houses from The Block, bought at auction last week for more than $15m.

The billionaire, also known as “Lambo guy”, is famous for his love of fast cars (particularly Lamborghinis, and he once craned a McLaren Senna GTR into a $39m Melbourne penthouse), but his business model is less well known.

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