Posted on: February 3, 2024, 06:55h.
Last updated on: February 3, 2024, 06:55h.
A New York man who sued BetMGM in a bid to recoup around $29 million he lost gambling on the platform saw his claim dismissed by a New Jersey federal judge Wednesday.
Sam A. Antar accused BetMGM, a joint venture between MGM Resorts and Entain, of violating the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (CFA), negligence, and unjust enrichment for offering continued him “inducements to gamble” in the form of casino bonuses. This, despite knowing he was a problem gambler, according to the filing.
“In 2019, Plaintiff’s gambling activity exceeded $24 million, including more than $5 million in a 16-day period in January 2020. From May 2019 to January 2020, Plaintiff placed more than 100,000 online bets,” according to Antar’s lawsuit.
Investment Fraud
Lawyers for BetMGM countered that Antar was simply trying to claw back money he owed after being convicted of defrauding numerous victims out of more than $550K in a bogus investment scheme.
In 2022, Antar was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud charges. He was ordered to repay around $650K. He has since been released.
The operator’s attorneys also argued that the CFA is preempted by New Jersey’s Casino Control Act (CCA).
In her ruling, Judge Madeline Cox Arleo agreed, writing that the CCA “does not require casinos to prevent or stop inducing gambling from those that exhibit problem gambling behavior.” She also determined that “the casino owed plaintiff no negligence common law duty of care.”
“Although the CCA regulates the responsibilities of casinos as they relate to problem gambling behavior, the CCA is silent on any duty owed by casinos to prevent or stop inducing gambling from those that exhibit problem gambling behavior,” Cox Arleo asserted.
‘Crazy’ Eddie Antar
Antar is the nephew to disgraced electronics mogul “Crazy” Eddie Antar, once the head of the multimillion-dollar Crazy Eddie electronics chain. The company will be remembered by Tri-state area residents of a certain age for its TV spots featuring radio DJ Jerry Carroll exhorting consumers to succumb to the company’s “insaaaaane” prices.
Once one of the biggest consumer electronics chains in the US, Crazy Eddie floated on the NASDAQ in 1984 before being exposed as a fraudulent enterprise that artificially inflated profits and engaged in widespread securities fraud.
Eddie Antar was arrested in Israel in 1992 on federal racketeering conspiracy charges and extradited to the US, where he spent eight years in prison. He died in 2016.
