Former Jacksonville Jaguars employee Amit Patel mostly deposited $22 million, which he stole from the team, at FanDuel and DraftKings.
A court filing on Thursday revealed how Patel spent the money he stole from the team. Patel’s attorney, Alex King, initially claimed that “99%” of the money was used to repay gambling losses, but prosecutors said otherwise.
Amit Patel spent a lot of stolen Jacksonville Jaguars money on a “life of luxury”
The court filing from federal prosecutors alleged that Amit Patel spent $5 million of the stolen Jacksonville Jaguars money on a “life of luxury.”
This “life of luxury” included a Tiger Woods putter from 1996 as well as $78,000 in private jets. Patel also reportedly spent nearly $600,000 at Apple as well as $40,000 at Amazon and Best Buy combined.
The filing said that he transferred money from FanDuel and DraftKings into his PayPal account, which he used for a variety of different purchases. Amit Patel didn’t stop spending the money he stole from the Jacksonville Jaguars when the organization fired him.
Despite that, Patel reportedly hid his egregious spending well, according to a source from an article on The Athletic.
“Aside from the fact that he drove a Tesla, if you were to see Amit, you wouldn’t assume like, ‘Oh, here’s a dude that is siphoning millions of dollars from his job,’” a source told The Athletic.
After being fired, Patel continued to use the money to pay dues at his country club as well as a game-worn Trevor Lawrence jersey for over $2,000, which he bought three days after charges were filed against him.
Other things Amit Patel spent money on include:
- Hotels, rental properties and travel ($278,000)
- Golf memorabilia (over $200,000, $47,113.92 on Tiger Woods putter)
- Country club membership ($77,000)
- eBay ($140,412.97)
- Ticketmaster ($69,025.26)
- Non-private flights ($70,362.06)
- Jacksonville Jaguars pro shop and stadium ($9,477.11)
Prosecutors want Amit Patel to spend eight years in prison for stealing from the Jacksonville Jaguars
Federal prosecutors are recommending that Amit Patel go to prison for eight years for stealing money from the Jacksonville Jaguars.
When he initially pleaded guilty in December, Patel was facing a maximum prison sentence of 30 years along with a $500,000 fine.
Many fans are in awe of Patel’s ability to steal so much money from the organization without anybody noticing, while others say he got too greedy and that is why he was eventually caught.
How was he able to steal $22 million without anyone noticing ?
— Nico (@nico_w1992) December 16, 2023
I feel like if he stole just $1 million he probably would get away with it
— Steve Franklin (@MyGuySteve) December 17, 2023
How could the accountants have missed this for 4 years?
— Michael D. H. Hsu (@mdhhsu) December 16, 2023
Patel will be sentenced for his crimes on Tuesday.
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