A Florida man who stole $22 million from the Jacksonville Jaguars to fund a prodigious playing behavior has been sentenced to 6 and a half years in federal jail.
Amit Patel, left, arriving at a Florida courtroom together with his lawyer, Alex King. His former colleagues described feeling “betrayed” by Patel’s actions in a press release learn out to the court docket. (News4AJAX)
Final December, Amit Patel pleaded responsible to wire fraud and interesting in an unlawful financial transaction in connection to the embezzlement. On Tuesday, U.S. District Choose Henry Lee Adams Jr. ordered the 31-year-old to pay the Jags $21.1 million in restitution and to hunt skilled assist for his playing.
Patel labored for the NFL staff as a finance supervisor from 2018 to 2023, and because the sole administrator of the staff’s digital bank card (VCC) system. Throughout that point, he siphoned off precisely $22,221,454.40 from the VCC program by faking tons of of purchases and transactions with no professional enterprise function.
He transferred roughly $20 million to his FanDuel account and $1 million to DraftKings, the place he misplaced huge on each day fantasy sports activities (DFS) and sports activities betting beneath the username “ParlayPicker.”
Excessive Quantity, Excessive Stakes
Patel was a “high-volume, high-stakes DFS participant,” who was described by one DFS common because the “largest loser ever on FanDuel,” in line with a December 2023 ESPN report.
Patel’s legal professional, Alex King, stated that his shopper’s conduct was fueled by playing habit and that “99% of the misappropriated funds” had been misplaced via playing. However Patel additionally squandered cash in a fashion that was unconnected to his habit.
He transferred $5 million from his FanDuel and DraftKings accounts to his PayPal and different private accounts and splurged on luxurious gadgets.
He bought Tiger Woods’ 1996 putter and blew $78K on personal jet charters. He spent virtually $600K at Apple and greater than $40K at Amazon and Greatest Purchase. He purchased a Ponte Vedra Seaside rental for $265K.
“I stand earlier than you embarrassed, shamed, and upset by my actions,” Patel stated throughout his sentencing listening to. “I can by no means actually convey how sorry I’m to everybody affected by my actions.”
‘Broke Our Hearts’
Patel was a well-liked determine together with his colleagues, in line with a press release learn by the Jaguars’ senior vice chairman and chief authorized officer, Megha Parekh, on behalf of the staff.
We gave him his dream job. We trusted him. We labored with him. We broke bread with him. We went via a pandemic and the highs and lows of the NFL with him. He betrayed us. We take no pleasure in his punishment,” Parekh stated. “Make no mistake, Amit broke our hearts.”
The Jaguars are exploring the potential of recouping the cash from FanDuel.
