A former Jacksonville Jaguars employee is accused of stealing more than $22 million from the franchise from 2019 to 2023 by exploiting the organization’s virtual credit card program.
As reported by The Athletic, Amit Patel, who worked for the Jaguars for five years starting in 2018, is named in court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Fla. earlier this week. The Jaguars were not named in the federal filing — the organization was referred to as “Business A” — but the team confirmed it was the victim of Patel’s alleged crimes.
“We can confirm that in February 2023, the team terminated the employment of the individual named in the filing,” the team said in a statement. “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.”
One credit card company describes virtual credit cards numbers as still being linked to the same credit card account but usable when shopping online to avoid sharing the actual credit card number with retail websites — adding a layer of security.
Patel reportedly used the stolen money to buy, among other items, two vehicles, a condominium and a designer watch worth more than $95,000. Some of that money was also allegedly used to purchase cryptocurrency and place bets with online gambling sites.
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.
