FanDuel is facing a $250m lawsuit from the former Jacksonville Jaguars employee who stole $22m from the team, claiming that the operator exploited his addiction. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
The Jacksonville Jaguars virtual credit card program manager who stole over $22m from the team has filed a $250m lawsuit against FanDuel. Filed on Tuesday, the civil complaint in the Southern District of New York alleges the sportsbook operator exploited Amit Patel’s addiction and bypassed anti-money laundering (AML) and responsible gambling policies to do so.
spent about $20m on FanDuel daily fantasy sports contests
The 31-year-old spent about $20m on FanDuel daily fantasy sports contests. To incentivize him to keep playing, the Flutter Entertainment-owned brand provided him with free entries worth a total of $1.1m, as well as tickets to the US Masters, Miami Grand Prix, and a high-profile college football game.
The complaint outlines that Patel’s personal account manager at FanDuel would often contact him 100 times a day and even admitted to breaking certain AML rules. Patel’s legal counsel said it wasn’t fair for FanDuel to be completely blameless in the case and changes are necessary to stop something similar from happening to problem gamblers again in the future.
Patel remains in prison on a six-and-a-half-year sentence after pleading guilty in March to illegal monetary transactions and wire fraud.
