A judge in Missouri has ruled that the website PimpMyRide.com is an illegal lottery operation and has shut it down. The website was named after, but completely unaffiliated with, a popular MTV show, where contestants are given the opportunity to accessorise their dowdy cars and turn into something more ‘bling’. The site itself offered the chance to enter a contest for a $2 fee, with the randomly drawn winner receiving a $20,000 prize to ‘pimp out’ their vehicles.
Missouri Attorney General, Jay Nixon, who filed the civil fraud lawsuit against the site’s owner, Nathan Leiwek, warned 'You can't just start selling chances for a lottery for your own personal gain.' Leiweke's attorney said his client was just a young college student who didn’t realise that he was behaving illegally and ‘thought it was something fun to do. And he could make some money off of it, too.’
Nixon is demanding that the judge order that the site’s customers are reimbursed their money and that Leiweke pay a fine to the state.
