Lambo Guy’s breathtaking excuse after cops accused him of doing donut burnouts in his high-powered $400,000 Mercedes sports car

Block billionaire Adrian Portelli has denied allegations he did donuts and circle work burnouts while allegedly driving around Melbourne’s northwest.

Portelli, 35, yawned in court as it was alleged he carelessly drove his gray Mercedes Benz C63 coupe around a roundabout at Digger’s Rest on a rainy afternoon.

Portelli is accused of driving like an idiot just before Christmas 2020, with police charging him with careless driving, failure to properly control a vehicle and driving in a manner that causes a vehicle to lose traction.

But his legal team claims police were too far away to determine if he had a burnout – and could not possibly see if his wheels were spinning in the rain.

The court heard Portelli was intercepted near the Silk Drive and Diggers Rest-Coimadai Rd intersection, while his Merc was seized at the scene.

Portelli was charged more than a month after the incident – ​​which reportedly took place in an undeveloped section of Digger’s Rest – on January 30, 2021.

Senior Constable Glen Hutton told the court he witnessed Portelli doing ‘circle work’ – which the court heard was a term for hoon-style donut burnouts.

The highway patrol officer also said he saw Portelli’s $400,000 high-performance luxury sports car “drift” through the roundabout.

Senior Constable Hutton told the court he had discretion in seizing the Mercedes, and chose to have it towed despite Portelli’s claim it belonged to his partner.

The officer told Portelli, “You’re going to be left out here in the rain if you don’t get someone to pick it up (the Merc)” before allowing Portelli to remove a baby seat from the compartment.

Portelli’s attorney Penny Marcou questioned the officer’s claims, saying, “You jumped the gun and made assumptions.”

‘You made the decision to take away the beautiful Mercedes-Benz… you said, “You have two houses” and you decided to take (the Merc) away from him.

“You told him, ‘You’re going to be left here in the rain if you don’t know someone is going to pick it up.'”

Another Highway Patrol officer told the court he had taken a ‘damn oath’ when Senior Constable Hutton asked if he thought they had witnessed Portelli’s luxury car losing traction.

But Ms Marcou said there was “no way” police could make that claim from 255 meters away as she tried to discredit police evidence.

Ms Marcou suggested the officer “created a memory” because Portelli was “known in the community”.

She asked how the officer could remember the incident after four years and “several hundred police interceptions later.”

“It was a very distinctive incident,” he said. “I didn’t know who he (Portelli) was.”

“But you did that in January 2021,” Ms. Marcou responded.

“Your memory was set aside and you created a memory because Mr. Portelli was someone who was well known in the community….”

Ms Marcou also highlighted an expert report that concluded it was unlikely police could have seen Portelli’s wheels turning from their vantage point.

She also claimed that police had “no way” to see Portelli’s wheels losing traction more than 800 feet away.

“I suggest you just make this up, senior,” said Mrs. Marcou.

“I’m telling you it was a horrible rainy day… you have your windshield wipers on and it’s raining.

Ms Marcou also said the officer’s statement that it was not raining heavily was “misleading” because there was “flooding across the road”.

The officer, with 11 years of experience in the Highway Patrol, disagreed and said Portelli’s drift around the roundabout was a “controlled slide by the driver.”

Ms Marcou also said there was no recorded footage of the alleged incident and that police had noted Portelli’s Mercedes was a sedan and not a coupe.

The flamboyant billionaire playboy, known for his publicity stunts, had tried to keep his lawsuit secret before Daily Mail Australia exclusively revealed his shock defamation charges in May last year.

Portelli’s former lawyer Angelika Yianoulatos tried to keep the details of his alleged offense out of public scrutiny.

“Before I make any comments, I will ask your honor to close this court on the grounds that Mr Portelli is a public figure and I can see that there are some journalists on the (video) link,” she said during a speech. previous court hearing.

“I believe that any publication of these matters could be detrimental to Mr. Portelli and the proper administration of justice.”

While the court was closed to allow Portelli’s lawyer to argue her case, a magistrate rejected any idea of ​​issuing a suppression order, opening the court and providing Portelli’s charges to Daily Mail Australia.

Portelli is facing a legal war on a second front after South Australia’s Consumer and Business Services launched an investigation into the Melbourne businessman’s lottery operations in September last year.

South Africa’s government department confirmed it is prosecuting Portelli and Xclusive Tech Pty Ltd, which trades as LMCT+, just one day after Portelli distributed $150,000 in Coles vouchers to Western Sydney residents struggling to get groceries doing.

Portelli faces nine counts of conducting/aiding the operation of an unlawful lottery, and the company faces 10 counts of the same charge, the courts confirmed.

If convicted on all charges, Portelli could face a maximum fine of $190,000. The case is scheduled to be first mentioned in the South Australian Magistrates Court on January 15.

Portelli has an estimated net worth of more than $1 billion – and he made much of his fortune through LMCT+, a subscription-based lottery.

Portelli splashed out some serious cash at a lavish bash at his multimillion-dollar penthouse in Melbourne’s CBD on Thursday evening, just hours after filing the charges.

The hearing on driving charges before Magistrate Michael McNamara at the Sunshine Court is still ongoing.