Former Jacksonville Jaguars employee, alleges FanDuel exploited his gambling addiction. (Image: Steve Allen / Alamy)

A former Jacksonville Jaguars employee, Amit Patel, stole more than $22 million from the team to fuel his addiction to daily fantasy sports. Now Patel is suing FanDuel, saying that the sports betting giant exploited him by ignoring its responsible gaming protocols.

Attorney Matthew filed the civil lawsuit on behalf of Amit Patel in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, alleging that FanDuel incentivized Patel to continue playing daily fantasy sports despite clear signs that he had a gambling problem.

Lawsuit Alleges FanDuel Plied Patel with Incentives

Patel transferred a total of around $20 million into his FanDuel account, according to court documents. He is now seeking $250 million in compensatory and punitive damages from the company.

“Defendants actively and intentionally targeted and prayed 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,” Litt wrote in the lawsuit.

Patel previously worked in the Jaguars’ financial planning in analysis department. In December 2023, he pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and making an illegal monetary transaction in related to his theft of $22 million from the team. This March, a US District Court sentenced Patel to 6.5 years in prison.

The lawsuit alleges that FanDuel ignored its “know your customer” (KYC) and anti-money laundering protocols in order to allow Patel to make large transfers into his account and then wager that money.

According to the suit, VIP host Brett Krause was in regular communication with Patel via email, telephone, and text messages. Krause offered incentives to Patel despite allegedly knowing about his client’s gambling addiction from 2019 through 2023.

Some of the offered incentives included trips to the 2023 College Football Playoff championship, two trips to the Masters, a trip to a Formula One Grand Prix event in Miami, and a trip to the Super Bowl with all expenses paid.

Lawsuit: FanDuel Never Verified Suspicious Transactions

As evidence that FanDuel knew there was an issue with Patel’s play, the lawsuit alleges that Patel was told some of his transactions had been flagged as suspicious in 2023. Krause allegedly told Patel that he would have to verify the source of the funds being transferred to his FanDuel account. However, the lawsuit alleges that this verification never happened.

“Days later, and without Plaintiff providing verification of any kind, Defendants informed Plaintiff that ‘Defendants got around it’ and ‘you owe me big time’ or words to that effect, and that Defendants were no longer requesting verification,” the lawsuit states.

FanDuel has not commented on the lawsuit due to a policy of not discussing pending litigation. In July, the Jaguars sued Patel for $66.6 million in Duval County Circuit Court in Florida.

Patel’s case is reminiscent of that of former Shohei Ohtani interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, who pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud charges in federal court in June after  allegedly stealing nearly $17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers star to cover his gambling debts with an illegal sports betting operation in California. Mizuhara faces a maximum fine of $1.25 million and up to 33 years in prison, with his sentence set for October 25.