Raffle of luxury car owned by popular Spanish YouTuber hit with a fine of €750k

A management company has been hit with a dizzying fine of €750,000 after they carried out a raffle for a luxury car, owned by a popular Spanish YouTuber, which breached gambling regulations, according to Spanish authorities. The fine for this unauthorised raffle was announced by the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 on Friday, October 9, and though officials have not identified the influencer by name, details about the raffle allegedly link to a competition carried out by EBR Management and promoted by David Cánovas, better known online as TheGrefg, a YouTuber from Alhama de Murcia who currently lives in Andorra.

A row over the raffle of a Lightning McQueen-themed Tesla

The case revolves around a Tesla Model S Plaid owned by the popular influencer, which was offered as a prize in the raffle running from December 24, 2024, until January 6, 2025. The Tesla had been modified to look like the popular cartoon character Lightning McQueen from Pixar’s Cars. The competition was promoted through TheGrefg’s social media accounts and was accessible to participants using Spanish IP addresses.

More than 375,000 entries in the raffle

In order to enter the raffle, participants needed to purchase a digital wallpaper from EBR Management for €1. Each purchase provided one entry into the draw, and a whopping total of 376,850 entries were recorded during the time the raffle was promoted. At the time, the vehicle was valued at more than €75,000, though according to reports, the owner of the car said it had cost him approximately €120,000. 

Company carrying out the event found to be in breach of gambling regulations

However, according to reports, the company had never obtained the authorisation required under Spain’s Gambling Regulation Act to organise the raffle. As a result, the Directorate General for Gambling Regulation subsequently opened disciplinary proceedings, considering the activity a very serious infringement of the legislation, and ultimately imposed the fine worth three quarters of a million euros, equalling twice the amount raised through the entries.

A fine worth three quarters of a million euros: Company challenges the call, but the Ministry rejects the appeal

The company, EBR Management, challenged this decision and argued that the competition could be classified as a random draw for advertising or promotional purposes rather than a regulated raffle. The Ministry rejected this appeal and maintained that the activity required specific authorisation that had never been obtained. It also refused to reduce the fine any further, explaining that a reduction had already been applied when calculating the original amount.

Under Spanish gambling legislation, very serious infringements can attract fines of up to €1 million.

TheGrefg responds: ‘It is the company, which is not mine nor represents me, being fined’

After this announcement, TheGrefg responded on social media, stressing that the penalty had been imposed on the company rather than on himself. He stated that a company had hired him to carry out the competition and insisted that EBR Management was neither owned by him nor the same entity as himself.

“Good morning!!!” stated the YouTuber in his post addressing the situation on X. “I don’t have any problem with acknowledging and paying if I am fined, but this is not the case. To carry out this raffle, a company hired me, and it is the company, which is not mine nor represents me, being fined.”

“All the headlines point directly at me. You click on the story and some clarify that the fine isn’t for me, while others couldn’t care less and lie about it without bothering to clarify. What sells is what sells,” concluded the influencer.