Free fuel hero or regulatory rebel? The chequered past of the man behind the Good Friday gridlock

Despite causing a massive gridlock that took police more than three hours to clear, the man behind Melbourne’s Good Friday free petrol stunt is unrepentant.

Instead, Billy Beasley has doubled down, vowing that his trade promotions business RS Rewards would conduct similar giveaways in other states and calling for petrol station owners to join his next “handout”.

“We’re going interstate. We’re doing it again,” Beasley declared in an Instagram post published after the incident in Truganina, when thousands of people queued in their cars for their share of the $100,000 worth of free fuel on offer to RS Rewards members.

Beasley’s offsider “Soph” added: “It was crazy. We’re definitely going to do it again. Next time we’ll make sure we’re more organised.”

Beasley is part of a new wave of entrepreneurs in Australia running pseudo raffle businesses that seek to follow the success of billionaire Adrian Portelli and his LMCT+ rewards business.

The success of RS Rewards and the growing profile of Beasley is a change of fortune for the 31-year-old, who has previously run two businesses that collapsed and left creditors, including the Tax Office, owed millions of dollars.

RS Rewards has also had its own problems. In mid-March, it was banned from offering its prizes to NSW residents after the state’s consumer regulator, Fair Trading, stripped the group of its licence amid concerns about some of its promotions.

This masthead sent Beasley a series of questions about RS Rewards, the free petrol stunt and his earlier business failures over text, WhatsApp and email but did not hear back from the entrepreneur.

Set up in 2021, RS Rewards describes itself as Australia’s largest lifestyle club, in which members pay tiered monthly fees for entries into its prize draws of luxury goods such as prized RAM sporting utes, a $3.1 million house or cash prizes that range from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.

The group’s profile has exploded after it began partnering with popular public figures including influencer Tammy Hembrow and former football star turned radio host Brendan Fevola.

The group recently did a paid promotion with TikTok sensations and comedy duo the Reesebros.

Along the way, Beasley and RS Rewards’ social media following has ballooned. RS Rewards added tens of thousands of followers after the Good Friday free petrol giveaway. They now have a combined 200,000 followers.

Many of RS Rewards fans love the business and Beasley, calling the tatted-up larrikin a “legend”, especially for his impromptu giveaways of cash and fuel at a time when prices at the bowser have ballooned.

“God bless this initiative,” said one follower on Instagram in response to the fuel giveaway, while another begged: “Come to Gosford.”

But Beasley might struggle to answer that plea.

On March 13, the NSW Fair Trading regulator stripped the group of its licence to operate trade promotions – in which a business offers discounts or rewards as part of a membership program – after a review of its activities.

“RS Rewards had failed to comply with the trade promotion legislation on multiple occasions over a significant period of time,” a spokesperson for the regulator said.

This masthead can reveal that decision came after a review by the regulator that found that RS Rewards had broken the law 29 times in 2025.

Those breaches included the group participating in illegal gaming activities outside the allowances of its licence.

This included conducting spin and win games and offering and accepting payment of $10 for 40 entries for gaming activities across various gaming activities. It was also found to have not notified the regulator properly when it did engage in gaming activities.

RS Rewards quietly updated its terms and conditions in March to include that its offers were no longer available to NSW and ACT residents (along with SA residents), leading to complaints from members that the change was not well communicated.

In Victoria, where trade promotions businesses are not licensed, there appears far less concern about RS Rewards.

“Previous assessments of complaints about RS Rewards did not result in findings against the company under Victorian legislation,” Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission chief executive Suzy Neilan said.

Beasley’s issues in NSW are not expected to hold the business back.

It’s also not the first time that Beasley has faced challenges – which he has almost effortlessly overcome.

Before starting RS Rewards, Beasley oversaw his family’s lift repair business between 2013 and 2019.

Two of those businesses where Beasley was the sole director – BD Lifts (trading as Melbourne Lifts) and DB Lifts (trading as All Lifts) – voluntarily appointed liquidators in 2020 after receiving an adverse tax assessment. The liquidators’ reports show the intertwined businesses collectively owed their creditors nearly $4 million, including an $1.4 million unpaid tax bill.

Liquidators alleges in the report that they suspected the businesses may have traded while insolvent for two years before their appointment.

The liquidators also alleged the assets of both companies were sold to a company overseen by family members in a sweetheart deal for $10,000 in cash and the acceptance of just under $500,000 in company debts.

Liquidators noted their view was only based on a preliminary investigation and according to filings with the investigations, were not completed, and no action was ever taken against Beasley

More recently, two other of Beasley’s other business ventures – including his apparel label – received strike-off notices from the corporate watchdog over failing to file paperwork on time.