A former Jacksonville Jaguars employee is accused of stealing more than $22 million from the franchise from 2019 to 2023 by exploiting the organization’s virtual credit card program, and with that money he bought two vehicles, a condo, among other things and purchased a designer watch valued at over $95,000. Some of this money was also allegedly used to purchase cryptocurrencies and place bets on online gambling sites.
Amit Patel, who worked for the Jaguars for five years starting in 2018, is named in court documents filed earlier this week in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars were not named in the federal filing – the organization was referred to as “Company A” – but the team confirmed it was the victim of Patel’s alleged crimes.
“We can confirm that the team terminated the employment of the individual named in the filing in February 2023,” the team said in a statement. “Over the past few months, we have cooperated fully with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida in their investigation and thank them for their efforts in this case. As is clear from the charges, this individual was a former financial planning and analysis manager who exploited his position of trust to secretly and intentionally commit significant fraudulent financial activity at the expense of the team for personal gain. This person did not have access to confidential football strategies, personnel or other football information. The team retained experienced law and accounting firms to conduct a comprehensive independent review, which concluded that no other members of the team were involved in or aware of its criminal activities.”
An NFL spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Patel’s attorney did not immediately respond to an interview request. The assistant U.S. attorney handling the case also did not respond to a message left at his office.
Patel is listed in the Jaguars’ 2018-2022 media guides. His titles during these years were Coordinator, Financial Planning and Analysis and then Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis. Court records say he was released in February 2023.
Before his departure, Patel oversaw the company’s monthly financial reports and department budgets and served as the club’s administrator for its virtual credit card (VCC) program, which allowed certain authorized employees to “request VCCs for business purchases or expenses,” according to the filing.
His authority over the VCC program allowed Patel to carry out allegedly fraudulent transactions beginning in September 2019. The court filing says he concealed these transactions by “identifying recurring VCC transactions such as catering, airfare and hotel fees and then duplicating those transactions; he inflated the amounts of legitimate recurring transactions; He conducted completely fictitious transactions that may sound plausible but never actually took place.”
The court filing states that Patel “used all or part of the proceeds of this scheme to place bets on online gambling websites; to purchase a condo in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida; to pay for personal travel for himself and his friends (including renting private jets and booking luxury hotels and private rental apartments); purchasing a new Tesla Model 3 sedan and a Nissan pickup; to deposit a deductible with a criminal defense law firm; and to purchase cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens, electronics, sports memorabilia, a country club membership, spa treatments, concerts and sporting event tickets, home furnishings and luxury watches.”
The court filing does not specify what Patel allegedly bet on at the online gambling sites. When asked if the team wanted to comment on this claim, a Jaguars spokesman declined.
Patel was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of illegal monetary transactions. If convicted, Patel may be required to forfeit property “in the amount of at least $22,221,454.40 constituting the proceeds of the crime,” in addition to assets “acquired or financed with the proceeds of the crime and/ or were involved in an illegal monetary transaction”. “, says the file.
In a filing Tuesday, Patel’s attorney filed a waiver of prosecution in which Patel waived prosecution by indictment and agreed that “the trial may proceed on the basis of information rather than on the basis of an indictment.”
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