Former Jaguars employee allegedly embezzled more than $22 million due to gambling addiction, lawyer claims

Amit Patel was fired by the organization back in February due to alleged wire fraud.

Former Jaguars employee allegedly embezzled more than $22 million due to gambling addiction, lawyer claims

Amit Patel (Image via X)

Just a few days ago, a report broke out about how a former Jacksonville Jaguars employee named Amit Patel embezzled more than $22 million from the organization. He was charged with wire fraud and illegal monetary transactions during his time with the franchise from 2019-2023. The reports suggested that Patel used the stolen money to fund his lavishing lifestyle, but his lawyer claims Patel lost the money due to gambling addiction.

Amit Patel’s lawyer Alex King released a statement on Thursday claiming that Patel lost “approximately 99 percent” of the stolen money in gambling and daily fantasy. 

Almost the entirety of the funds Mr. Patel used from the VCC were spent on the gambling websites and efforts to win money back, with the anticipation he would repay the funds with the winnings and make the Jaguars whole.
King said in a statement according to The Athletic.

Patel has been accused of misusing his position to skim funds from the Jaguars’ virtual credit card program (VCC) by exaggerating or sometimes outright fabricating transactions as legitimate business expenses.

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His lawyer now claims that Patel lost the money in gambling and continued to steal money from the organization so that he could repay them with his winnings. However, his tactic didn’t work out since he continued to lose money in gambling.

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.
King said in a statement.

Furthermore, the lawyer’s statement added that Patel started to lose a significant amount of money during the final months, leading to an investigation by the league. The Jacksonville-based organization had already reported that Patel worked alone and didn’t involve any other employees in his scheme.

Amit Patel’s lawyer disputes lavish lifestyle allegations

Earlier this week, a court filing in Jacksonville, Florida accused Amit Patel of skimming funds from the Jacksonville Jaguars organization to fund his lavishing lifestyle.

Jaguars Amit Patel
Jacksonville Jaguars fans cheer during an NFL football game at EverBank Stadium (Image via AP)

The court filing said that Patel used the money to buy a condominium in Florida, a new Tesla Model 3 sedan, and a Nissan pickup truck. Besides, he also allegedly invested some money in cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens.

However, now his lawyer Alex King has disputed those allegations. King says that his client misappropriated the funds in a misguided effort to repay his previous gambling losses and not fund his luxurious lifestyle.

Nonetheless, Patel is currently fully cooperating with the investigations from the Jaguars, the NFL, and even the FBI per reports. He has also reportedly checked himself into a rehab center for his gambling addiction.

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