Former Jaguars employee Amit Patel is accused of stealing more than $22 million from the franchise, according to a report from Katie Strang and Kalyn Kahler at The Athletic.
Patel was employed by the Jaguars from 2018 to ’22, working his way up to the role of manager, financial planning and analysis, per the team’s media guides. According to the report, Patel was able to exploit the company’s virtual credit card program in order to purchase a range of items including “two vehicles, a condominium and a designer watch worth over $95,000.”
The report cites court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville earlier this week. While the Jaguars are not named in the filing, the franchise confirmed that they were the “Business A” referred to in the case in a statement to The Athletic.
“Over the past several months we have cooperated fully with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida during their investigation and thank them for their efforts in this case,” the statement read in part. “As was made clear in the charges, this individual was a former manager of financial planning and analysis who took advantage of his trusted position to covertly and intentionally commit significant fraudulent financial activity at the team’s expense for personal benefit.”
Patel was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of illegal monetary transactions, and could be responsible for repaying $22,221,454.40, which “represents the proceeds of the offense,” according to the filing.
