A former Jacksonville Jaguars employee has recently been accused of stealing over $22 million from his team in a scheme that started in 2019 and lasted until earlier this year.
According to a report from The Athletic, Amit Patel was charged with wire fraud and illegal monetary transaction this week in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Florida.
Court documents obtained by the media outlet show Patel has been accused of using the money he stole to buy luxury items, including watches, cars, and private jets.
After finding out what was happening, the team terminated Patel’s employment in February 2023, according to a statement from the team.
“Over the past several months, we have cooperated fully with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida during their investigation and thank them for their efforts in this case,” the statement shared with The Athletic said.
The statement continued, saying that Patel was a former manager of financial planning and analysis with the team. The Jaguars said he “took advantage of his trusted position” so that he could “intentionally commit significant fraudulent financial activity.”
“This individual had no access to confidential football strategy, personnel, or other football information,” the statement added. “The team engaged experienced law and accounting firms to conduct a comprehensive independent review, which concluded that no other team employees were involved in or aware of his criminal activity.”
Patel is accused of stealing the money through the team’s virtual credit card program, meant to be used for employees to fund legitimate business expenses, not to commit fraud.
The court filing says that he altered the team’s VCC system by using “reoccurring VCC transactions, such as catering, airfare, and hotel charges, and then duplicated those transactions; he inflated the amounts of legitimate recurring transactions; he entered completely fictitious transactions that might sound plausible, but that never actually occurred.”
Overall, Patel is accused of using “the proceeds of this scheme, in whole or part, to place bets with online gambling websites; to purchase a condominium in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida; to pay for personal travel for himself and friends (including chartering private jets and booking luxury hotels and private rental residences); to acquire a new Tesla Model 3 sedan and Nissan pickup truck; to lodge a retainer 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 wrist watches.”