A former Jacksonville Jaguars financial manager is suing FanDuel for $250 million, claiming the betting company took advantage of his gambling addiction and stole $22 million from the organization.
Amit Patel, who is incarcerated for six and a half years in South Carolina, sued FanDuel on Tuesday in federal court in New York, alleging the company disregarded its own policies about responsible gaming and money laundering prevention. FanDuel was accused in the lawsuit of knowing that Patel was not allowed to legally gambling because he was employed by the NFL team, where he worked for five years beginning in 2018, and that the $20 million he wagered on daily fantasy sports tournaments over a period of years was either stolen or not from a genuine source.
FanDuel declined to comment, citing ongoing legal disputes.
According to the lawsuit, FanDuel offered Patel more than $1.1 million in gaming credits and harassed him to bet more by having his personal host get in touch with him up to 100 times a day.
“The complaint certainly does not claim the addicted gambler is blameless, but the suit does try to apportion responsibility in a way that accounts for FanDuel’s very active involvement in his gambling addiction,” said Matthew Litt, Patel’s attorney.
According to the lawsuit, Patel’s host called him multiple times that day to inquire as to why he hadn’t placed a bet. The lawsuit claims that these conversations began early in the morning and continued late into the night. According to the report, Patel received extravagant gifts from New York-based FanDuel, including tickets to the Super Bowl, the Masters golf tournament, auto races, and collegiate basketball competitions.
Patel agreed to give back the money he took from the team when he entered a guilty plea to wire fraud and other charges in December. According to the prosecution, he spent the money on spa treatments, athletic event and concert tickets, country club memberships, and sports memorabilia. The funds were also used for a Tesla Model 3 and private jet charters Prosecutors stated in court documents acquired by CBS station WJAX-TV that they had a Patek Philippe Nautilus watch valued at $95,000, a Nissan pickup truck, a Ponte Vedra Beach apartment, a sedan, and cryptocurrency.
His lawsuit sounds a lot like previous cases that compulsive gamblers have filed recently, accusing internet or land-based casinos of taking advantage of their addictions.
A former New York lawyer filed a lawsuit in September 2008, claiming seven casinos had a duty to prohibit her from gambling because they knew she was addicted to it. However, the action was dismissed by a federal judge.
Additionally, the same lawyer that is currently defending Patel against FanDuel filed a case against the company in February, but it was dismissed on the grounds that Atlantic City casinos were required by law to cut off obsessive gamblers.
Other states have dismissed similar lawsuits.
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