Sports gambling giant FanDuel has denied a request from the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars to return the more than $20 million in funds a former employee gambled away after embezzling it from the team.
According to reports, the NFL team was pleased with FanDuel to simply give the stolen money back, but the gambling group said no way, the New York Post reported.
FanDuel reportedly said they did not take the money from the employee in bad faith and had no reason to believe it was stolen money.
“The way [FanDuel] see[s] it … we got this money fair and clear,” a source said. “It’s not our problem that we have to forfeit it back to you … I would be gobsmacked if it happened.”
An investigation reportedly revealed that former Jags staffer Amit Patel had stolen more than $22 million from the NFL team and gambled most of it away.
Jalen Ramsey #20 of the Jacksonville Jaguars celebrates with fans after the Jaguars defeated the Indianapolis Colts 30-10 at EverBank Field on December 3, 2017, in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Logan Bowles/Getty Images)
Along with losing bets placed with FanDuel, Patel also had accounts with DraftKings.
Patel pleaded guilty in December to stealing $22 million through a credit card scheme.
He had become known as a legendarily bad gambler who seemed never to win, according to reports last year by ESPN.
Patel’s attorney claimed that the bad gambler did not steal the money to spend on himself.
Trevor Lawrence, #16 of the Jacksonville Jaguars, celebrates with Evan Engram, #17, and Jawaan Taylor, #75, after a touchdown during the 1st half of the game at MetLife Stadium on December 22, 2022, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
“Mr. Patel did not use the Jaguars’ VCC to fund his lifestyle, but in a horribly misguided effort to pay back previous gambling losses that utilized the Jaguars’ VCC program,” attorney Alex King said last year.
Patel was accused of engaging in risky betting behavior from 2019 to 2023 and was charged with wire fraud and illegal monetary transactions for an embezzlement scheme. He lost about 99 percent of the money through bad betting decisions nearly daily throughout that time.
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