FanDuel has reached a financial settlement with the Jacksonville Jaguars following a high-profile embezzlement scandal involving Amit Patel.
FanDuel has reportedly reached a financial settlement with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars following a high-profile embezzlement scandal involving former team employee Amit Patel.
According to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to the Associated Press, the sportsbook operator agreed to pay the franchise approximately $5m earlier this year to help offset losses tied to the scheme.
The arrangement, first reported by ESPN, comes after Patel, the Jaguars’ former financial manager, pleaded guilty in 2023 to stealing $22m from the team via its virtual credit card expense system.
Patel diverted nearly $20m of the stolen funds to FanDuel, where he wagered extensively on daily fantasy sports contests. His actions went undetected for more than three years.
Court filings showed he manipulated the team’s internal accounting by duplicating or inflating legitimate charges for catering, airfare and hotels, while also fabricating transactions that appeared authentic.
His position overseeing monthly financial statements and department budgets allowed him to exploit the system.
The thefts continued from September 2019 until February 2023, when one of his wagers raised concerns within the NFL and ultimately triggered investigations.
He was given a six-and-a-half-year federal prison sentence and sent to a minimum-security facility in Alabama.
In July, he was transferred to a Duval County, Florida jail after state prosecutors filed a first-degree organised fraud charge against him. That offence carries a potential 30-year prison sentence.
Patel puts blame on FanDuel
The Jaguars sued Patel in July 2024, seeking more than $66m in damages, a figure that includes not only the stolen funds but also interest, investigation costs and other related losses.
In October 2024, Patel filed a $250m lawsuit against FanDuel, alleging that the company failed to enforce responsible gambling safeguards and anti-money laundering procedures.
In addition to FanDuel, he also deposited $1m with DraftKings.
Patel argued that FanDuel should have known he was ineligible to place bets as an NFL employee and that the large sums he deposited were not from legitimate sources.
FanDuel, an official sports betting partner of the NFL, has not publicly commented on the settlement. The Jaguars have also declined to issue a statement.
For both parties, the agreement avoided what could have been a lengthy and costly legal dispute.
Patel’s lawsuit against FanDuel remains unresolved. The company is seeking arbitration in accordance with its terms and conditions, to which it says Patel is bound.
During the trial for the embezzlement, federal prosecutors rejected Patel’s assertion that his crimes were driven by a gambling addiction.
In court documents, they stated that during his time with the Jaguars, he funded a lavish lifestyle that included private jets, luxury hotels and cars, cryptocurrency purchases and more.