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A former employee of the Jacksonville Jaguars now faces a lawsuit by the NFL team he stole more than $22 million from to pay his gambling debts.

The Jaguars sued Amit Patel on Thursday, July 19 for $66.7 million — triple what he was convicted of embezzling to fund a lavish lifestyle and feed his addiction to sports betting. The team cited a Florida law that says victims of theft are entitled to recover triple the amount stolen.

Patel made headlines in December after he was charged in federal court with using his position and access to the team’s virtual credit card system to steal funds over about four years for lavish items including a Tesla, a condo in Ponte Vedra Beach, personal travel and a $95,000 watch, among other things.

Who was Amit Patel? He stole $22 million from the Jaguars

According to team media guides, 31-year-old Amit Patel spent at least five full seasons as an employee in the Jaguars’ finance department, beginning in 2018. He was promoted to finance manager, a middle management position, in 2019 and was fired in February 2023.

How did a former Jaguars employee steal $22 million?

Amit Patel was the lone administrator for the team’s “virtual credit card” system from fall 2019 to February 2023, making hundreds of purchases and transactions that the team didn’t need, then covering them up in monthly tracking reports.

Those secret deals included a lot of gambling expenses as well as travel, event tickets, sports memorabilia, a $95,000 watch and other trappings of what Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Coolican called “a life of luxury.”

Prosecutors allege that Patel used fraudulent credit card charges of $22,221,454.40 to purchase:

• Bets with online gambling websites 
• 2021 Tesla Model 3 with a value of $40,625
• Nissan pickup truck
• Membership at a country club 
• Two-bedroom condo in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, that according to charging documents, is valued at more than $265,000 
• Personal travel for himself and friends, including chartering private jets and booking luxury hotels and private rental residences
• Cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
• Electronics and sports memorabilia
• Concert and sporting event tickets
• Home furnishings
• Patek Phillippe Nautilus watch for $95,484.15
• A retainer with a criminal defense law firm

How much did Amit Patel lose in sports betting, fantasy sports?

Alex King, Patel’s attorney, said Patel suffers from a “serious gambling addiction” and the majority of the funds he stole went to cover those debts.

According to an ESPN report, about $21 million of the $22.2 million Patel stole from the Jaguars went to daily fantasy games and sports betting between two sites: FanDuel ($20 million) and DraftKings ($1 million). A previous ESPN report said Patel was a “high-volume, high-stakes daily fantasy sports player known for racking up big losses.”

The Jaguars reportedly asked FanDuel to reimburse some or all of the money Patel lost on that site.

What was Patel charged with?

Amit Patel was charged with two counts:

• Wire fraud
• Illegal monetary transaction

Patel pleaded guilty to wire and illegal monetary transaction charges on December 14 at federal court in Jacksonville. 

What was the ex-Jaguars employee sentenced to?

Amit Patel was sentenced March 12 to 6½ years in prison and ordered then to forfeit $22.2 million in cash and property. He’s been in a South Carolina prison since May, but the team’s lawsuit says all it’s recovered so far has been $261,232 from the sale of Patel’s Ponte Vedra Beach condo.

After his prison term is up, Patel will be on supervised release for three years and has to pay $21,132,454 in restitution. 

Did a Jaguars employee hack the Jumbotron? What is the Jaguars’ 220-year sentence?

Yes, but that wasn’t Amit Patel. In March, 53-year-old Samuel Arthur Thompson, of St. Augustine, was sentenced to 220 years in federal prison for multiple charges, including child sexual abuse and sex-offender violations.

The Jaguars hired Thompson in 2013 as a consultant for the team’s new video board, and they did not renew his contract in 2018 after learning of his past conviction and status as a sex offender. An investigation determined that before he left, Thompson installed remote access to the video board and caused the screen to malfunction three times during the 2018 season.

Contributing: Scott Butler, Florida Times-Union