[VIDÉO] Alleged illegal lottery: This Quebec influencer in the eyes of the authorities

Web stars get rich without much consequence by promoting dangerous remedies, fraudulent contests, or questionable investments. Without limits, some influencers become fraudsters and others simply attract the ire of tax authorities, this file explains. Newspaper.

The influencer, who has more than 80,000 subscribers on TikTok, is now in the spotlight of Quebec authorities after launching a series of allegedly “illegal” online contests.

It confirms that “Mr Bouchard's activities appear to be in contravention of the Criminal Code”. Newspaper M^e Joyce Tremblay, lawyer at Régi des alcohols, des courses et des jeux du Québec (RACJ).

Danik Bouchard, a 30-year-old Quebecer, is known for his songs in the Montreal metro and in public during the pandemic. He streams his performances live on TikTok.

His fans are used to sending him virtual money on this social network, while he plays the guitar and sings in front of his cell phone camera. Danic Bouchard, in recent months, has multiplied tactics to line his pockets. In particular, he took half of the funds raised during his performances and paid them to one of his randomly selected donors. A sort of 50/50 draw, so to speak.

“Gang, send me the galaxy [argent virtuel] And you can win half of all the points I scored,” said Mr. Bouchard stated in his platform last April. TikTok allows its users to buy virtual currency and send it to content creators as a sort of tip during live broadcasts. Virtual money that takes the shape of galaxies or roses on this platform is then pocketed in real dollars by the influencer.

Handed over to the police

The RACJ revealed that it has received at least one complaint regarding the influencer's activities.

“The complaint in question was sent to the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) because we did not issue a drawing license for this person,” explains M^e Tremblay, noting that this license is mandatory for this type of competition… even on TikTok.

However, neither the SQ nor the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) could confirm the status of the file.

In November 2022, News magazine It also revealed the case of two Quebec influencers who earned thousands of dollars by running various illegal draws on the TikTok platform for almost a year.