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The Jaguars have filed a $66.6 million lawsuit against former employee Amit Patel. Patel has admitted to guilt in federal court for stealing over $22 million from the organization. As per ESPN, he did so over a "3½-year period to pay off gambling debts and fund a life of luxury."
Based on experts, if the Jaguars win the case, they will be able to take steps on their own to recover the amount instead of having to depend on the federal government to step in on their behalf.
If this lawsuit is successful, the organization will, therefore be able to go after Patel's legally acquired properties. The total amount is three times that of the value Patel is said to have taken because Florida allows plaintiffs to recover the damages thrice over.
Based on court documents, Patel transferred $20 million of the funds to FanDuel and $1 million to DraftKings, giving credence that the stolen amount went to fund his gambling addiction. As for the "life of luxury" part, he purchased Tiger Woods' 1996 putter and spent $78,800 on private jet charters.
As per the ESPN report, the scheme was discovered in 2023 when Patel had placed a bet in Kansas in violation of state law and NFL policy. As he has already pled guilty in a criminal case at the federal level and the civil lawsuit is based upon that, there's a high likelihood of success, one assumes, for the Jaguars.
How did Amit Patel steal more than $22 million from the Jaguars?
Amit Patel had a senior role in the financial dealings of the Jaguars but abused that position. As initially reported by The Athletic, he was authorized to deal with virtual credit card programs and used that power to take:
"reoccurring VCC transactions, such as catering, airfare and hotel charges, and then duplicated those transactions; he inflated the amounts of legitimate reoccurring transactions; he entered completely fictitious transactions that might sound plausible, but that never actually occurred.”
Apart from those benefits already mentioned, he also reportedly purchased a condominium in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and a new Tesla Model 3 sedan and Nissan pickup truck.
He also acquired cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens, electronics, sports memorabilia, a country club membership, spa treatments, concerts, and sporting event tickets, home furnishings and luxury wristwatches.
Having already pled guilty to the federal case, Amit Patel is now in jeopardy in the lawsuit being brought now by the Jaguars.
