Sam A Antar continues to fight his legal fight against online gambling operator BetMGM. After a New Jersey District Court judge tossed the case earlier this year, Antar has filed with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
Judge Madeline Cox Arleo concluded that the state’s Consumer Fraud Act (CFA) did not apply in this case, as the prevailing law overseeing the casino industry is the New Jersey Casino Control Act (CCA). Additionally, she said the casinos in the state have no obligation to stop problem gamblers from wagering with money they don’t have.
Antar alleged that Borgata Casino and BetMGM solicited him to play on the company’s online casino sites despite the VIP hosts allegedly being aware he was a problem gambler. He claims he wagered almost $30 million across 2019 and 2020. He named VIP Account Managers Quinton Hogan and Jerry Liang in the complaint, saying they plied him with bonuses and encouraged him to keep depositing on the site despite several “fundamental and visible symptoms of problem gambling” in Antar’s behavior.
In the initial complaint, Antar also alleged the online casino sites would malfunction or disconnect him right as he was supposed to win a large payout.
The appeal contests Arleo’s conclusion that the CCA supersedes the CFA in the state. Additionally, the appeal questions whether or not the Casino Control Commission has authority on this matter given that the issue at hand is not a regulatory violation. The brief offers other cases where CCA overrode the CFA in casino-related matters, noting the law prevailed, “because the matter implicated and aspect of gambling that the CCC had used its authority to regulate.”
Antar is currently serving a three-year sentence for a felon financial fraud.
BetMGM declined to comment on this story.
The legal bills are piling up for BetMGM, which is set to appear before Michigan’s Supreme Court in a case involving a different customer, Jacqueline Davis.
