A former NFL Jacksonville Jaguars employee who embezzled $22m to bet on sports is now suing FanDuel, his platform of choice, for $250m (£188.4m/ €226.4m). Amit Patel claims the company took advantage of his blooming addiction.
Patel, who is serving a six-and-a-half-year term at the Williamsburg Federal Correctional Institute Satellite Camp in South Carolina, filed his lawsuit against Boyd Gaming, FanDuel, Flutter and Fox Corp in federal court in New York on Tuesday (1 October).
He contends that not only did FanDuel employees know he was an NFL employee and should be excluded from betting, but also that the company ignored its own internal controls. Sports betting companies have internal controls and house rules that should guide them in dealing with bettors who may display signs of problem gambling.
In the lawsuit, Patel’s lawyer argues that “defendants knew and/or took intentional steps to avoid knowing that the money gambled by the plaintiff was stolen or otherwise not from a legitimate source”.
Patel’s name should have been on a non-voluntary exclusion list as an NFL employee. But as operators and regulators have found, creating and maintaining such lists are a challenge. And oftentimes, the leagues themselves are hesitant to provide names for fear of violating privacy laws.
FanDuel offered $1.1m in gambling credit
Patel’s gambling offering of choice was daily fantasy sports. According to the lawsuit, FanDuel actively wooed Patel. The company provided him with trips and tickets to big-time sporting events, including the Super Bowl and the Masters golf tournament. Patel’s FanDuel host, Brett Krause, allegedly also gave him $1.1m in gambling credits. Krause contacted him up to 100 times a day on days that he did not place a bet.
According to the complaint, Patel was diagnosed with “severe gambling disorder” in April 2023. He claims he has not placed a bet since March 2023.
“Defendants exploited plaintiff’s problem gambling disorder to his detriment and for its own benefit by ceaselessly enticing plaintiff to deposit and gamble massive amounts of money,” reads the complaint.
The lawsuit details 266 issues related to Patel’s betting, his relationship with his host and his growing addiction.
According to the filing, FanDuel took deposits “in amounts which could only have come
from a corporate credit card”. Patel also claims that FanDuel was not permitted to “refund deposits or partial deposits onto the same credit card from which the deposits originated unless the player is net positive”, but that FanDuel did. In the claim, Patel’s lawyers wrote that Krause told Patel that FanDuel was “breaking AML by giving refunds back to the credit card”. This happened 300 times in amounts of $25,000 for a total of $6.75m, Patel alleges.
Patel wagered on DraftKings, too
Patel in December pleaded guilty to stealing $22m from the Jaguars to pay off gambling debts. The embezzlement took place over four years before it was uncovered. He primarily played daily fantasy sports on FanDuel, although he did wager on DraftKings, as well.
DraftKings is not named in the lawsuit. Flutter is FanDuel’s parent company while Boyd Gaming and Fox Corp are two of FanDuel’s biggest shareholders.
Although Patel spent the majority of the stolen money on betting, he also treated himself to luxury items and experiences. He purchased a putter owned by golf great Tiger Woods and travelled on private jets. Patel was sentenced in March. In addition to prison time, Patel has to pay full restitution to the Jaguars and get counselling for gambling addiction.
The Jaguars in February asked for restitution from FanDuel, per ESPN. It is not clear if the operator and the NFL team have made a deal on that front.
