Posted on: October 2, 2024, 07:20h.
Last updated on: October 2, 2024, 07:20h.
An ex-Jacksonville Jaguars financial manager, who’s serving over six years in prison for the theft of millions of dollars from the team, has sued FanDuel for encouraging him to gamble.
Amit Patel, 31, of of Ponte Vedra, Fla., is seeking $250M from the sportsbook company because it allegedly exploited his gambling addiction, according to ESPN.
FanDuel Preyed on Patel
The legal action was filed on Tuesday in New York federal court and seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.
[The] Defendants actively and intentionally targeted and preyed on [the] Plaintiff with incentives, credits, and gifts to create, nurture, expedite, and/or exacerbate his addiction with the only possible outcome that he would ultimately hit rock bottom,” the lawsuit claims.
In addition, the court action revealed FanDuel employees knew Patel “worked for a National Football League team and was not permitted to gamble on the National Football League.”
Patel stole over $22M from the NFL’s Jaguars while he was a manager of its virtual credit card program. He transferred about $20M to a FanDuel account and some $1M to DraftKings, another sportsbook.
FanDuel gave him $1.1M in credits, ESPN reported. He also was provided trips by FanDuel to numerous sporting events.
He especially liked betting on daily fantasy sports (DFS). Patel was described as a “high-volume, high-stakes DFS player,” who once was identified as the “biggest loser ever on FanDuel,” according to ESPN.
Also, Brett Krause, who was the customer representative at FanDuel assigned to Patel, frequently contacted Patel, sometimes up to 100 times per day, the lawsuit claims, often asking him why he wasn’t betting more.
Krause confirmed the two were “breaking AML [anti-money laundering protocol],” according to the legal action. Krause chose to put some of the texts sent to Patel on a personal cell phone “to avoid detection by FanDuel’s compliance personnel,” the lawsuit added.
Last year, Patel was diagnosed as having a gambling disorder, according to court documents cited by ESPN. He’s been in counseling and has been getting help from Gamblers Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous, ESPN reported.
Patel previously pled guilty to wire fraud and illegal monetary transaction charges. He stole a total of $22,221,454.40.
He used the money to support an “extravagant lifestyle” that included chartering private jets, staying at fancy hotels, joining a country club, and wearing a $95K watch, according to ESPN. Patel’s attorney, Alex King, formerly told ESPN that Patel is “deeply remorseful” over his actions.
Jaguars Have Sued Patel
In response to the theft, the Jaguars filed a lawsuit against Patel in Florida. The team is seeking $66.6M in damages, according to ESPN. The Jaguars have attempted to get FanDuel to cover the money stolen by Patel, ESPN reported.
Casino.org reached out to FanDuel for comment on Patel’s lawsuit. No immediate statement was provided.
A company spokesperson has told ESPN it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
An attorney representing Krause told ESPN, “Amit Patel is a convicted fraudster and it’s no surprise his complaint is full of misrepresentations.”
“He lied about his life to Brett Krause, who at the time was a low-level FanDuel employee. Mr. Patel defrauded Mr. Krause, just as he did the Jaguars,” Attorney Theresa Trzaskoma added.
Matthew Litt, the attorney who filed the lawsuit for Patel, told ESPN the court action attempts to provide “a fair apportionment of responsibility among all responsible parties.”
The suit certainly does not contend that Amit is blameless. But right now, Amit is facing 100% of the consequences for what happened while FanDuel is facing none — despite FanDuel’s very active role in Amit’s gambling disorder. The objective is not just to balance things out in Amit’s case, but to stop FanDuel from actively enticing addicted gamblers in the future.”
