A former Jacksonville Jaguars employee who managed the team’s virtual credit card program and siphoned off $22.2 million to play Daily Fantasy Sports contests on FanDuel is suing the gaming operator for $250 million.
Per ESPN, Amit Patel and his legal team filed a civil suit in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, claiming FanDuel “exploited” his gambling addiction and ignored its responsible gaming and anti-money laundering protocols. He is seeking $250 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
Patel, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of illegal monetary transaction in federal court in Dec. 2023 and is currently serving a 6.5-year sentence at a federal prison in South Carolina.
Ongoing legal battle with FanDuel
The suit alleges that a VIP Host at FanDuel, Brett Krause, engaged in conversations with Patel as much as 100 times a day between 2021 and 2023, with Krause acknowledging that the two parties were breaking anti-money laundering protocol.
“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,” wrote Patel’s attorney, Matthew Litt, in the suit.
Krause allegedly moved texts with Patel to his personal phone to avoid FanDuel compliance protocol detection, instructed Patel to fabricate dialogue on his phone, and also accompanied Patel on multiple FanDuel-sponsored trips.
“The goal of the suit is a fair apportionment of responsibility among all responsible parties. The suit certainly does not contend that Amit is blameless,” continued Litt. “But right now, Amit is facing 100% of the consequences for what happened while FanDuel is facing none – despite FanDuel’s very active role in Amit’s gambling disorder. The objective is not just to balance things out in Amit’s case, but to stop FanDuel from actively enticing addicted gamblers in the future.”
While FanDuel declined to comment, Krause’s attorney, Theresa Trzaskoma, stated, “Amit Patel is a convicted fraudster and it’s no surprise his complaint is full of misrepresentations. He lied about his life to Brett Krause, who at the time was a low-level FanDuel employee. Mr. Patel defrauded Mr. Krause, just as he did the Jaguars.”
The Jaguars organization sued Patel in a Florida state court in July, requesting $66.6 million in damages, after previously asking FanDuel for repayment. Patel has been actively receiving therapy after being diagnosed with a gambling disorder in March 2023 and attending Gamblers Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings while serving his prison sentence.
