(Bloomberg) — FanDuel Inc. was sued by a former Jacksonville Jaguars executive who admitted to stealing more than $22 million from the team, but says the website knew he was an addicted gambler and offered him more than $1 million in credits and “lavish” gifts to make sure he continued to place bets.
The complaint by Amit Patel, who pleaded guilty in December and was sentenced to 78 months behind bars in March, alleges that FanDuel ignored its own responsible gaming protocols and “actively and intentionally targeted and preyed” on him with incentives to feed his addiction. The suit in federal court in New York is seeking more than $250 million in damages.
The suit comes as signs of betting addiction are increasing following a 2018 Supreme Court ruling that struck down a law banning sports betting in most states. Surveys conducted by the nonprofit National Council on Problem Gambling found that 25 million more people across the US reported gambling online in 2021 than in 2018 and gambling counselors are seeing more people, especially young men, who are hooked on betting.
In his suit, Patel says that he gambled more than $20 million on FanDuel between late 2019 and early 2023 and was given VIP status in 2021. He was then assigned a host who communicated with him constantly and lured him to gamble more with “relentless financial incentives, lavish trips, event tickets and other gifts” — including more than $1 million in FanDuel credits and all-expenses-paid trips to a Formula One race in Miami, the college football national championship game and the Masters golf tournament.
“To be clear, this suit does not allege liability on the basis that defendants passively permitted an addicted gambler to use its platform,” Patel said in the complaint. He says FanDuel instead “actively and intentionally targeted and preyed” on him 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.”
FanDuel spokesperson Chris Jones said the company doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
Patel says the site consistently ignored its own standards to avoid recognizing that Patel’s deposits weren’t from a legitimate source and circumvented its own “know-your-customer” and anti-money laundering requirements to make sure he continued depositing money and “gambling in massive amounts and frequencies.”
The case is Patel v. FanDuel Inc., 24-cv-7402, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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