Feb. 2, 2023 started like another morning for Amit Patel. He was sitting in his cubicle on the bottom flooring of EverBank Stadium, house to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Patel, a supervisor within the staff’s monetary division, was closing out the final cycle of bills, as he did in the beginning of every month.
When Jaguars chief monetary officer Mark Sirota requested Patel to come back to Sirota’s workplace, he thought it could be to debate a brand new mission. However then Patel obtained there and Sirota lowered his voice and requested Patel to close the door behind him. Sirota then informed Patel a delegation from NFL safety was in a collection upstairs ready to speak to him.
Sirota escorted Patel by the workplace, then the bowels of the stadium. As they made their technique to an elevator, Patel regarded again and noticed a contingent of human relations officers and staff safety trailing them. When he arrived on the fourth flooring and stepped into a collection, he was met by one of many staff’s legal professionals and three males in fits, certainly one of whom was sitting behind a laptop computer.
“I already knew that they had every thing on the pc in entrance of them. My complete playing historical past,” Patel, 31, informed The Athletic in an interview from his legal professional’s workplace in Jacksonville final week.
When the NFL safety staff requested the place Patel obtained the cash to position the bets that they had found, he lied. He stated it was from household wealth and cryptocurrency. After they requested whether or not they may have entry to his cellphone and pc, he regarded to the Jaguars’ lawyer for recommendation, solely to comprehend the lawyer was there to guard the staff, not him. He handed his gadgets over and the lawyer took him for a stroll across the concourse. As they walked, Patel feverishly calculated what these safety officers would possibly establish as they transferred knowledge from his pc and cellphone.
When his boss later requested him for his password to the corporate’s digital bank card program, Patel knew it was over. He was caught.
FBI investigators subsequently found that Patel, over a four-year interval, had embezzled greater than $22 million from the Jaguars by creating fraudulent costs on the membership’s digital bank card after which masking his tracks by sending falsified recordsdata to the staff’s accounting division. Patel’s legal professional stated the overwhelming majority of what he stole he gambled away through on-line sports activities playing websites. The federal government stated he additionally used the cash to fund a jet-set way of life and to buy automobiles, a condominium, a designer watch price over $95,000 and different extravagances.
Final Tuesday, in U.S. District Court docket in Jacksonville, Patel stood earlier than a choose, voice quivering, and stated he was “ashamed” of his actions. The prosecution requested for a sentence of 84 months, emphasizing the size of his fraud, the media consideration the case acquired and the message it could ship to others who would possibly “steal tens of millions and reside like a king.” Patel’s legal professional requested for probation, citing his consumer’s playing dependancy and subsequent restoration efforts as causes for leniency.
Patel acquired a 78-month sentence.
In his first interview since he pleaded responsible final 12 months, Patel stated that after months of anticipation, dread and unease, he feels a way of aid to lastly face his punishment.
“I’m coping with the results of one thing that occurred a 12 months and a half in the past. I’ve been a very totally different individual since then by my restoration,” Patel stated. “I’m coping with one thing that’s occurred up to now once I was a distinct individual.”
Patel had roughly two dozen family and friends available at his sentencing, a few of whom made statements vouching for his character. His older brother stated he was the prototypical golden little one who excelled at sports activities and college solely to be derailed by alcohol abuse and playing dependancy. His highschool instructor stated he was a “mannequin pupil.” His girlfriend insisted he was a very good one that had taken accountability for his actions and dedicated to a lifetime of sobriety.
Authorities attorneys described him as a fabulist who conned his firm and loved the spoils. Court docket filings included footage of Patel partying at swanky resorts, flying on personal planes and flashing costly bottles of champagne. In that submitting, the prosecutor dealing with the case wrote that Patel continued to “benefit from the finer issues” even after he was fired. Megha Parekh, the Jaguars chief authorized counsel, issued a blistering evaluation of Patel, stating that his actions invited an inordinate quantity of scrutiny on the group and diverted key assets and time from present workers: “He was our teammate and he betrayed us.”
These depictions, whereas seemingly in distinction, coexist in Patel’s retelling, and he incessantly toed the road between expressing regret for his actions and ascribing these actions to an issue outdoors his management.
“I used to be battling with a secret dependancy that no one knew about,” Patel stated. “Everybody thought I used to be doing nice, dandy. You understand, on Instagram they see you having enjoyable, you’re along with your family and friends, however there’s a psychological demon inside.”
Patel grew up in a strict family the place his mother and father, who immigrated from India, anticipated educational excellence from their two sons. He stated he was impacted drastically by two losses earlier in his life: Patel’s father died of a coronary heart assault when Patel was 13, and certainly one of his greatest buddies died in a automotive accident 9 years later when he was in faculty. By that point, Patel stated his ingesting, drug use and playing had been all-consuming.
However Patel additionally had an abundance of affection and help coupled with ambition and alternative. He was, as the federal government legal professional described in court docket, an instance of the American Dream. Widespread and well-liked amongst his classmates. Elected class president on the Paxon Faculty for Superior Research in Jacksonville. Captain of his highschool lacrosse staff. And he had an entrepreneurial spirit, dabbling in e-commerce and aspect tasks that suffused him with money and freedom.
Like many individuals his age, Patel was drawn to playing through the on-line poker increase of the early aughts and the ubiquity of fantasy sports activities. He stated he first skilled the push of playing on a cruise journey to the Bahamas the summer time earlier than he left for school. The cruise featured a poker match and, although his mother forbade him to enter as a result of he had beforehand squandered cash on on-line poker through the use of her bank card, his stepfather slipped him a $100 invoice.
A crowd fashioned across the poker desk and he was in the midst of all of it, profitable the match and a $2,000 prize. He paid his mom again for a portion of the cruise and acquired his then-girlfriend a necklace. He later posed for an image with the cash splayed out on a desk and made that his Fb profile avatar.
Patel enrolled at Florida State in 2010 however stated the mix of partying and playing led him to modify from his main of alternative (engineering) to one thing extra manageable (accounting). Poor grades prompted his switch to Flagler School as he prioritized playing over all else. He took a bus to an in-person poker match on the Seminole Arduous Rock Resort in Hollywood, Florida, the place he completed fifteenth out of about 1,500 entrants, profitable nearly $7,500. However he was capable of return to FSU for an MBA. Out of school, he went to work for Deloitte, and whereas there he used his company bank card to fund his playing behavior. However he averted bother as a result of his brother helped him pay it off.
In 2018, he landed his dream job with the Jaguars, a staff he grew up supporting. By that time, he’d progressed from enjoying fantasy soccer to betting on baseball through offshore accounts to inserting wagers on basically something he may. “You get up in the midst of the night time and also you’re betting on Turkish girls’s volleyball,” he stated.
He’d ignore his mother’s calls, overlook to brush his tooth, keep up late into the night time, continuously refreshing his cellphone for scores and highlights whereas his girlfriend slept subsequent to him. As soon as, in Las Vegas, he drove to the Nevada/Arizona border simply so he may place a every day fantasy sports activities guess, which isn’t permitted in Nevada. When his checking account was low, he’d promote private gadgets, donate plasma, take out payday loans or rustle up work doing cellphone repairs. There have been instances he’d go to the ATM a number of instances in a day, depositing and depleting.
“The worst half is there’s at all times a win across the nook,” Patel stated. “And in order that’s what you’re at all times chasing.”
In September 2019, Patel, then a mid-level worker with the Jaguars, was within the gap from playing losses, his bank card maxed out. He was drunk, attempting to consider a technique to dig himself out of debt and feeling the “itch.” That’s when he allowed himself to think about using funds from the corporate VCC program he managed.
“I imply, the satan inside me is like let me simply deposit $25,000 from the cardboard. I’ll flip it into $50,000. I’ll put the $25,000 again,” Patel stated.
Given the extent of attrition and lack of oversight throughout the Jaguars’ depleted accounting and finance division, the prospect of getting caught appeared low. In company finance, there’s a idea known as the fraud triangle: Alternative. Incentive. Rationalization. Patel had all three.
The outlet deepened as Patel’s playing losses mounted. And so he continued utilizing funds obtained from the Jaguars VCC program to position astronomical bets through FanDuel and DraftKings in hopes that he’d win large and save himself. Patel stated his VIP rep at FanDuel would add 10 % to his account for each $600,000 he spent, along with entry charges that had been refunded and journey perks he was comped. A spokesperson for FanDuel declined to remark as the corporate nonetheless considers the state of affairs an “ongoing matter.”
Within the early days of the scheme, Patel would see an unannounced assembly positioned on his calendar and imagine the staff had found out his subterfuge. Because the years handed and his actions went undetected, that worry by no means abated, he stated, however he simply couldn’t cease.
He’s unsure what tipped off NFL safety early in 2023. (Workers of NFL groups are forbidden from betting on video games.) However he recounted some brazen strikes he made within the months earlier than his termination. Twice, he guess on the Jaguars – as soon as whereas he was in Kansas Metropolis for a sport in opposition to the Chiefs — an $18,000 six-way parlay involving 5 UFC fights and the Jags masking the unfold. (The 5 fights went his approach, he stated, however the Jags didn’t cowl.) Later, he stated he guess “just a few hundred thousand {dollars}” on a Jaguars-Titans sport, one other loss. He additionally tried to withdraw cash from a wire to position bets by FanDuel, which triggered a notification from the anti-money laundering staff on the website. (He stated his account was suspended after he unsuccessfully answered questions concerning the supply of his funds.)
“I used to be thus far within the gap I used to be like ‘Perhaps I can win 1,000,000 actually fast on this sport and pay them again,’” he stated. “I used to be determined.”
Within the fast aftermath of getting fired by the Jaguars, Patel didn’t cease playing. As an alternative, he continued scrambling to attempt to win and pay the staff again. An absurd concept, he acknowledges now, contemplating the sum he owed.
Patel was in rehab by the point the FBI obtained concerned. His legal professional referred him for alcohol and drug abuse, in addition to playing dependancy. He cooperated with the federal government’s investigation and in December 2023 pleaded responsible to costs of fraud and an unlawful financial transaction.
Within the 99 days he spent in rehab, Patel stated he felt guilt and disgrace for the ache he brought on his family members, buddies and coworkers. However he additionally felt grateful. “I used to be so glad to be out of that torturous, infinite cycle in my head,” he stated.
Gambler’s Nameless works equally to Alcoholics Nameless. You’re employed the 12 steps. Establish the “character defects” that contribute to dependancy. Patel nonetheless battles these, with perfectionism and ego surfacing extra prevalently than he would love.
He bristled on the suggestion that he was a neophyte and traditionally dangerous gambler, as one report prompt. He was bothered by information accounts that just one individual attended his plea listening to in his protection. (He informed family and friends to not attend, he stated.) And he pushes again on the federal government’s assertion that he was pushed solely by greed.
He contends that he purchased some luxurious gadgets to flip for income to subsidize his playing, whereas additionally acknowledging that he was frittering away cash on a rustic membership membership, spa providers and extra. Although the vast majority of the cash he stole from the Jaguars ended up with FanDuel or DraftKings, the federal government contends that Patel transferred over $5 million to his PayPal and different monetary accounts.
He admits he loved the trimmings that got here with getting access to tens of millions of {dollars} however stated the price of sure journeys and occasions had been reimbursed by the web betting websites, an incentive for him to proceed spending with them: “They only offer you this phantasm that you simply’re profitable as a result of they’re simply making a lot cash off of you that they should preserve you content and preserve you playing,” he stated.
Patel stated he nonetheless has urges to gamble — the latest one got here just a few months in the past when he obtained an e-mail from the Arduous Rock Resort On line casino group, commemorating the opening of its new sportsbook. Patel talked about it within the GA assembly he organized; the group now meets frequently in an area church.
“Not everybody will get hooked on playing,” Patel stated. “However everybody can get addicted.”
Patel will proceed remedy whereas incarcerated. He’s slated to start his sentence throughout the subsequent 90 days. His legal professional requested he be positioned on the federal facility closest to his household in Jacksonville. When he will get out, he’ll be placed on a fee plan – $250 a month directed to the Jaguars. Each the prosecuting legal professional and the choose acknowledged he’s unlikely to ever pay again all the sum he stole from the NFL franchise.
Stated Patel: “I’ve simply obtained to cope with these penalties and transfer on with my life and see how a lot I can use this to assist quite a lot of different folks.”
(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; images: Don Juan Moore, Julio Aguilar, Perry Knotts, Don Juan Moore / Getty Photos; courtesy of U.S. Lawyer)
