FanDuel will pay the Jacksonville Jaguars approximately $5 million in compensation after a former team employee stole from the team and deposited the fraudulent money in the sportsbook, according to ESPN. The NFL reportedly encouraged the Jaguars and FanDuel to come to a resolution and, according to ESPN, the sportsbook was motivated to pay the team in the interest of being “a good partner” with the NFL. The deal was finalized in early 2025.
The compensation stems from the case involving Amit Patel, the former Jaguars employee who stole more than $22 million from the team. Patel faces six grand theft charges, which could add to the six-and-a-half-year prison sentence he is already serving for pleading guilty in 2023 to wire fraud and illegal monetary transactions.
Patel was previously ordered to pay $21 million in restitution on top of his prison sentence, and the Jaguars also sued their former employee for $66.6 million in damages in a case that remains unsettled.
Imprisoned ex-Jaguars employee now facing felony grand theft charges after stealing $22 million from team
Carter Bahns
Over a five-year period from 2019-23, Patel embezzled more than $22 million from the Jaguars to fund his gambling addiction and to purchase luxuries including vacations and merchandise. He was also accused of buying two vehicles, a condo and cryptocurrency during his stint as the Jaguars’ finance manager. Patel used the team’s virtual credit card program to funnel the money to his FanDuel account and to make the fraudulent purchases.
The Jaguars fired Patel in Feb. 2023. An FBI investigation occurred over the ensuing months, and in March 2024 Patel received his sentence.
During his imprisonment, Patel filed a civil suit alleging that FanDuel ignored its own responsible gaming and anti-money laundering protocols. He is seeking $250 million in damages in the ongoing suit.
The vast majority of the stolen money went directly to Patel’s FanDuel account. He made $20 million in deposits while the sportsbook gave him $1.1 million in credits and sent him on trips to the College Football Playoff, the Masters and the Miami Grand Prix. Patel also alleges that FanDuel VIP host Brett Krause communicated with him around 100 times per day from 2021-23. And on days Patel did not gamble, he claims Krause contacted him wanting to know why.
Matthew Litt, Patel’s attorney, claimed FanDuel “preyed” on Patel, and lured him into continuously gambling.
“Defendants actively and intentionally targeted and preyed on 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,” Litt said last year.
Theresa Trzaskoma, an attorney for Krause, called Patel a “fraudster” who misrepresented his lifestyle to Krause.