Amit Patel, a former employee of the Jacksonville Jaguars, is facing charges of wire fraud and illegal monetary transactions in federal court. Patel, who worked for the Jaguars from 2018 until his termination in February, is accused of exploiting the team’s virtual credit card program, resulting in a staggering $22 million in fraudulent transactions. In his role as “Financial Planning and Analysis Coordinator” and later as “Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis,” Patel allegedly manipulated the virtual credit card program by creating fictitious transactions, inflating legitimate transactions, and duplicating others.
The extensive list of items and services Patel allegedly acquired using the embezzled funds includes a condo in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, a Tesla Model 3, a Nissan pickup truck, online gambling bets, a designer watch worth over $95,000, private jets, luxury hotels, a retainer with a criminal defense law firm, cryptocurrency, NFTs, electronics, sports memorabilia, a country club membership, spa treatments, and concert and sporting event tickets.
The Jaguars, identified as “Business A” in the legal filing against Patel, confirmed they were the alleged victims. In a statement, the team emphasized that Patel’s actions had no impact on the football team’s operations or confidential information. The organization terminated Patel’s employment in February 2023 and has been cooperating with an FBI investigation for several months. The team conducted an independent review, concluding that no other employees were involved in or aware of Patel’s criminal activities.
The case has generated humor on social media, with references to former Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer and quarterback Blake Bortles making light of the situation.