A wealthy property investor who used a crane to lift a racecar 57 floors for display in his penthouse has taken to social media to complain.
Adrian Portelli, known as ‘Mr Lambo’ after appearing on reality TV show The Block, appeared before Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on Monday after being hit by police with three driving offences.
The case was adjourned but not before Portelli, 34, made the mistake of snapping a photo from inside the courthouse and posting it on Instagram to lament the rotten fate of his life to his 187,000 followers.
A condition of entry to the Victorian Magistrates Court is that no photographs or videos are taken from inside the building.
Adrian Portelli stopped short of posting a selfie and a sock while standing outside Sunshine Magistrates Court on Monday.
Adrian Portelli, known as ‘Mr Lambo’, lifted the $2 million sports car into his penthouse luxury apartment with a crane
Adrian Portelli is a careless driver who allegedly lost traction on his car during police surveillance
‘Victoria – places where you can commit armed robbery less than driving offences,’ he said.
Tagged into the Sunshine Magistrates Court, Portelli was pictured beaming happily in front of the courtroom door.
The court heard that Portelli is moving ahead with plans to contest the Huning charges.
With a burly minder, Portelli sat quietly in front of the court before being forced past a waiting media pack.
Outside court, Portelli denied his social media posts were mocking the court system.
“No, of course not, I’m for it (the court),” he told reporters.
‘We’ll sort it out and move on.’
Portelli drove off in the waiting Maserati Quattroporte – priced at $219,000 – and quickly hit Instagram again with media reports of his court appearance.
Embattled actor Vince Colosimo was spared from going to court in person last week after his taxpayer-funded barrister successfully argued for him to appear via video link under an obscure practice note introduced during Victoria’s Covid-19 lockdown.
Daily Mail Australia revealed in May that Portelli had been arrested and charged by police.
Court documents reveal that Portelli is accused of hooning into Diggers Rest just before Christmas 2020, after police charged him with careless driving, failure to maintain proper vehicle control and loss of traction.
The hearing comes just a week after he shared a photo of a $2 million McLaren Senna GTR 57 to be taken to his $39 million penthouse at Neela, Garden Towers in Melbourne’s CBD.
Prolific property investor Adrian Portelli is known as ‘Mr Lambo’ after his appearance on reality TV show The Block.
Portelli hit the headlines last year after an appearance on Channel Nine’s The Block (pictured) when he made a record-breaking bid on a home renovated by contestants Omar and Oz but it was allegedly a ‘dummy bid’ to drive up the price. . Portelli denied the allegations
How police built their case against Portelli and what kind of vehicle he was driving at the time of the alleged crime will remain unknown until his next court appearance in October.
The court heard that Portelli’s defense is still trying to get material from police which it believes will go towards clearing him of the charges.
In May, his then-lawyer Angelica Yiannoulatos called on police to provide her client with unredacted copies of both the body-worn and dashcam footage captured by the officers who stopped her.
He also said that handwritten or typed notes of the officials regarding the complaint should also be given to him.
A police prosecutor told the court that Portelli’s defense was completely brief and that all the video footage had been given to him.
Portelli hit the headlines last year after appearing on Channel Nine’s The Block when he placed a record-breaking bid on a home being renovated by contestants Omar and Oz, but which led to allegations it was a ‘dummy bid’ to drive up the price.
He hit the headlines again on Saturday after it was revealed he had bought influencer Troy ‘Candy’ Williams’ Gold Coast property.
The five-bedroom, four-bathroom home was listed on the market for $2.8 million to $3 million, but the exact sale price was not disclosed.
Williams announced Portelli as the home’s lucky buyer on Instagram alongside a cheeky photo.
Portelli received both praise and criticism earlier this year after posting photos of himself posing next to a race car up to his high-rise apartment.
First look at the McLaren Senna GTR 57 on the floor. Big thanks to everyone involved for making this absolutely surreal moment happen,’ he wrote.
Melbourne property developer Adrian Portelli’s daring crane stunt has sparked outrage by lifting a $2 million race car into his 57th-floor luxury apartment.
Portelli’s supercar reached its destination safely. Police allege that Portelli risked an accident by going to the ground due to his careless driving
Portelli (second from left) gives Omar and Oz a high five during the auction of the house they renovated for The Block last year.
Community backlash over the stunt was immediate, with Portelli defending his appearance on The Block and attacking Greens leader Adam Band who criticized him on Twitter for the Crane stunt.
‘Labor is giving this guy a $9,000 tax cut while people are starving on $52 a day,’ Mr Band wrote.
Portelli didn’t hold back in his response.
‘Who is this guy trying to use me as a political tool for sympathy,’ he wrote with a red circle around a photo of Mr Bandot.
Portelli drew on these claims and criticism of his daring crane stunt.
‘First my name was publicly trashed that I was a dummy bidder who could not afford the cost of the block house,’ he wrote.
I even suggest making friends with contestants because of my ethnicity.
‘Now there are (sic) people crying because I got a lot of money.
‘Create the people of your mind’
Portelli bought the luxury penthouse last month in a sale that broke the record for the city’s most expensive apartment as he handed over $39 million.
However, Mr Portelli said he only intended to use it as a ‘weekend’.
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