A team employee gambled that money for a time through a corporate credit card.
Los Jacksonville Jaguars they have asked FanDuel to reimburse them for some or all of the approximately $20 million in stolen profits a former employee lost at the site, but the company is unwilling to pay, he told ESPN a source familiar with the situation.
Amit Patel, a mid-level financial manager, pleaded guilty to stealing $22 million through a virtual credit card system the Jaguars used for expenses. Sources with knowledge of the case told ESPN that Patel lost about $20 million of the funds on daily sports and fantasy bets on FanDuel, which had assigned him a VIP host. He lost about $1 million in DraftKingssources noted.
Amit Patel transferred money directly from the computer’s credit card to FanDuelsources stated.
Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
The source familiar with the situation said discussions are taking place between FanDuellos Jaguars and the NFL about what the source called “an agreement.” However, she stressed: “The way they see it… we received this money fairly and clearly. It’s not our problem that we have to pay it back to you.”
“I would be stunned if it happened,” the source added.
FanDuel and the NFL They declined to comment. The Jaguars They did not respond to requests for comment.
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Patel diverted the funds over three and a half years, according to federal court documents. In December, he pleaded guilty to fraud charges in federal court in Jacksonville. He faces up to 30 years in prison and a $500,000 fine when he is sentenced on March 12.
The sources added that FanDuel alerted the NFL about Patel’s betting in January 2023, after he placed traditional sports bets on Tennessee. The amounts and types of bets that triggered the investigation are unknown. The Jaguars were unaware of the embezzlement scheme or Patel’s extensive daily habit until they were notified by the NFLteam and league sources said.
It is not clear what recourse the Jaguars to recover losses. According to federal law, FanDuel has an obligation to ensure that funds used for sports betting are obtained legally, but the regulations are murkier for daily fantasy games.
Online records show that Amit Patel was a high-volume, high-stakes daily fantasy player in FanDuel y DraftKings, which are official betting partners of the NFL. Patel has been betting on daily fantasy sports since 2017, records show, and his gambling intensified in 2021 and 2022. ESPN previously reported that Patel was a daily player under the username “ParlayPicker” and was believed to have racked up big losses playing against the elite with tickets over 24 thousand dollars.
A veteran player told ESPNon condition of anonymity, who believes ParlayPicker is “the biggest loser ever on FanDuel.”
“He was legendarily bad,” the person emphasized.
Federal authorities say Amit Patel He lived an extravagant lifestyle while working with the Jaguars, which included chartering private jets, booking luxury hotels, purchasing multiple vehicles and purchasing cryptocurrency, a country club membership, spa treatments and a high-end wristwatch that It cost more than $95,000.
Coworkers assumed Patel’s family was wealthy. A former team employee said he remembers seeing Patel’s lavish lifestyle on his social media accounts, which he has since deleted.
“I remember on Instagram that I took gamer-style trips all the time. In the Hamptons, Miami, living a great life. Bottle service at the clubs,” the former employee said. “There was no way he could afford the lifestyle based on the Jaguar salary.”
In his statement on September 7, Patel’s lawyer, Alex King, denied that Patel financed his lifestyle with the stolen money and said that he bought his house and car from his family or earned money.
“Mr. Patel did not use the VCC of the Jaguars to finance his lifestyle, but in a terribly misguided effort to make up for previous gambling losses,” King said.
Patel noted during a court appearance in December that he has a “gaming disorder” and sees a therapist weekly for treatment. He said he underwent treatment for alcohol and substance abuse from March to June of last year.
ESPN’s Michael DiRocco contributed to this report.
2024-02-02 19:18:49
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