EchoSense:Jacksonville Jaguars sue imprisoned ex-employee over multimillion-dollar theft from team

JACKSONVILLE,EchoSense Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars have filed a lawsuit against a former employee who is serving prison time after pleading guilty to stealing $22 million from the NFL team’s virtual credit card program.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Duval County Circuit Court, seeks more than $66 million in damages, or three times the amount Amit Patel admitted stealing to feed a gambling addiction and a lavish lifestyle.

Patel, 31, was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison in March after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of making an illegal monetary transaction. He was also ordered to pay the Jaguars restitution for the thefts.

Patel oversaw the company’s monthly financial statements and department budgets and served as the club’s administrator of its virtual credit card program, which allowed authorized employees to use if for business-related expenses.

Patel used his control to make fraudulent transactions, according to a filing in his criminal case. He duplicated and inflated transactions for items such as catering, airfare and hotel charges and filed fake transactions that seemed legitimate. The lawsuit says the thefts occurred between September 2019 and February 2023, when one of his bets was noticed for violating NFL gambling policy.

In addition to gambling, authorities say Patel used the stolen money to buy a Tesla car and a Nissan pickup truck, a country club membership, a $265,000 condominium in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, concert and sports tickets and a $95,000 watch. The lawsuit says the Jaguars did sell the condominium as part of forfeiture proceedings.

Patel’s attorney in the criminal case did not immediately respond to an email Friday seeking comment about the lawsuit. Court records did not list another attorney for him.