Lawyer says former Jags employee used almost $22M on gambling sites

In the aftermath of the report that former Jacksonville Jaguars employee Amit Patel had stolen greater than $22 million from the crew, his legal professional says he used almost all of it on sports activities betting sites attributable to a “serious gambling addiction.”

Patel’s lawyer Alex King mentioned in an announcement that his shopper was misguided however did not use the Jaguars as his private piggy financial institution. 

Instead, King argues that his shopper spent “approximately 99 percent” of the funds stolen from the crew’s digital bank card program on gambling sites, FanDuel and DraftKings, to beat substantial monetary loss. 

“Almost the entirety of the funds Mr. Patel used from the VCC were spent on the gambling websites and efforts to win money back, anticipating that he would repay the funds with the winnings and make the Jaguars whole,” King mentioned by way of The Athletic. “Unfortunately, Mr. Patel’s compulsive gambling only exacerbated the situation, and he continued to misappropriate funds in an effort to have gambling winnings offset his significant losses.” 

When information of Patel’s soiled deeds emerged, many believed he was merely a conman utilizing the Jaguars to dwell lavishly. However, his lawyer now paints an image of a sympathetic determine in want of assist who solely tried to do proper by his employer regardless of his habit. 

Both may very well be true, however whereas Patel labored for the Jaguars from 2018 to 2022, he reportedly bought a condominium in Florida and a number of automobiles, together with stays at luxurious accommodations and flights on personal jets.

Over 4 years, Patel rose from coordinator to monetary planning and evaluation supervisor with the Jaguars. Before the crew fired him in February, he was answerable for the franchise’s month-to-month monetary statements and division budgets whereas being the administrator of the VCC program, which he allegedly defrauded.

The revelation that Patel used most of his stolen loot to guess on sports activities needs to be a priority for the Jaguars and the NFL. A current assertion from the crew confirmed that Patel had no entry to confidential soccer data, although it is nonetheless unclear if he guess on Jaguars video games.