Within the aftermath of the report that former Jacksonville Jaguars worker Amit Patel had stolen greater than $22 million from the staff, his legal professional says he used nearly all of it on sports activities betting websites because of a “severe playing habit.”
Patel’s lawyer Alex King stated in an announcement that his shopper was misguided however did not use the Jaguars as his private piggy financial institution.
As a substitute, King argues that his shopper spent “roughly 99 p.c” of the funds stolen from the staff’s digital bank card program on playing websites, FanDuel and DraftKings, to beat substantial monetary loss.
“Nearly everything of the funds Mr. Patel used from the VCC have been spent on the playing web sites and efforts to win a refund, anticipating that he would repay the funds with the winnings and make the Jaguars entire,” King stated by way of The Athletic. “Sadly, Mr. Patel’s compulsive playing solely exacerbated the scenario, and he continued to misappropriate funds in an effort to have playing winnings offset his important losses.”
When information of Patel’s soiled deeds emerged, many believed he was merely a conman utilizing the Jaguars to reside lavishly. Nonetheless, 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.
Each could possibly 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 inns and flights on non-public jets.
Over 4 years, Patel rose from coordinator to monetary planning and evaluation supervisor with the Jaguars. Earlier than the staff fired him in February, he was in control of 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 latest assertion from the staff confirmed that Patel had no entry to confidential soccer data, although it is nonetheless unclear if he guess on Jaguars video games.
