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Former Indian-origin Jaguars employee accused of stealing $22 million
Patel was terminated from his position in February 2023.
Representative Image / Unsplash
Jacksonville Jaguars, an American football team, has accused its former employee of embezzling over $22 million from the team between 2019 and 2023, according to a statement by the team reported by the Athletic.
As per the charges, the accused, Amit Patel, exploited the team's virtual credit card system, using the stolen funds to acquire assets such as two vehicles, a condominium, and a designer watch valued at over $95,000. Additionally, Patel purportedly used some of the misappropriated funds to buy cryptocurrency and engage in online gambling activities.
Court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Florida, earlier this week identify Patel as the individual who was employed by the Jaguars for a five-year period starting in 2018. While the federal filing refers to the organization as "Business A," the Jaguars have confirmed that they are the victim of Patel's purported criminal activities.
Patel's affiliation with the Jaguars is documented in the team's media guides spanning from 2018 to 2022. During this period, he held the titles of coordinator, financial planning and analysis, followed by manager, financial planning and analysis. According to the court filing, Patel was terminated from his position in February 2023.
Prior to his departure, Patel was responsible for managing various financial aspects within the organization. This included overseeing the company's monthly financial statements and department budgets. Additionally, Patel served as the administrator of the club's virtual credit card (VCC) program. The program permitted authorized employees to request virtual credit cards for business-related purchases or expenses, as outlined in the court filing.
Starting in September 2019, Patel, using his authority over the VCC program, allegedly committed fraud. To conceal his actions, he duplicated recurring transactions like catering, airfare, and hotels, inflated legitimate transaction amounts, and added entirely fictitious transactions that sounded plausible but never happened.
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