A former Jacksonville Jaguars employee who worked in the team’s financial planning and analysis department allegedly stole more than $22 million from the franchise, according to a report from The Athletic.
Amit Patel, who worked for the Jaguars for five years before he was fired in February 2023, is accused of exploiting the team’s virtual credit card program to buy two vehicles, a condominium and cryptocurrency, among other items.
Patel is charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of making an illegal monetary transaction. If convicted, Patel may be required to pay back “at least $22,221,454.40,” according to documents filed in U.S. District Court.
While the court documents refer only to “Business A,” the team confirmed it is the victim of the alleged crime in a statement given to The Athletic.
“We can confirm that in February 2023, the team terminated the employment of the individual named in the filing,” the team statement reads. “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.
“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. This individual had no access to confidential football strategy, personnel or other football information. The team engaged experienced law and accounting firms to conduct a comprehensive independent review, which concluded that no other team employees were involved in or aware of his criminal activity.”
The Jaguars’ virtual credit card program allowed authorized employees to make business-related purchases or expenses. As administrator of the program, Patel is accused of exploiting it to make fraudulent transactions.
According to court documents, Patel “inflated the amounts of legitimate reoccurring transactions; he entered completely fictitious transactions that might sound plausible, but that never actually occurred.”
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