Attorney General's News Release

July 28, 2004

Nixon puts brakes on illegal lottery at pimpmyride.com; obtains injunction against Festus man operating Web site

Jefferson City, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon has stopped an illegal Internet lottery seeking to capitalize on the popular MTV program, "Pimp My Ride." On Tuesday (July 27), Nixon obtained a preliminary injunction against Nathan Leiweke, of Festus, to stop him from accepting paid entries for a lottery through his Web site, www.pimpmyride.com. Neither Leiweke nor the Web site are affiliated with the television program.

"You can't just start selling chances for a lottery for your own personal gain," Nixon said, pointing out that Missouri law restricts games of chance to those allowed by the state constitution or statutes. "Unfortunately, the reach of the Internet enables such illegal schemes to proliferate across the country. But through this lawsuit, we're going to put a stop to these tricks."

Leiweke's Web site solicited consumers from across the United States to pay $2 per entry for a random drawing to customize, or "pimp out," their vehicles through a $20,000 renovation. There is no limit on the number of chances a person can buy, and some contestants allegedly have purchased as many as 100 entries. Only half the entry fees go to the prize money; Leiweke stated on the Web site that the other half would be used for "fees associated with maintenance and up keep of the website and contest."

Nixon says information obtained by his office leads him to believe approximately 4,400 consumers had purchased more than 12,000 chances total so far, and that more than $27,000 had been deposited in the PayPal account set up by Leiweke for pimpmyride.com.

The Web site also states that if a minimum of 20,000 entries were not sold for the contest, "the money collected for the contest money will be donated to charity!" There is no mention of what would happen in that event to the money retained for "fees."

The preliminary injunction signed by Jefferson County Circuit Judge Dennis J. Kehm prohibits Leiweke from advertising the raffle or selling any more entries, and also freezes the money he's taken in on the scheme. Nixon is asking the court to order Leiweke to pay appropriate restitution to consumers and penalties to the state.

Learn more about the state law on gambling, lotteries and raffles.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818