JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A former Jacksonville Jaguars employee is facing federal charges for allegedly stealing more than $22 million from the team.
Documents show Amit Patel is accused of using funds he stole from the team to pay for a condo in Ponte Vedra, chartering private jets, a Tesla, a $95,000 watch and more.
The U.S. Attorney's Office of the Middle District of Florida filed charges against Patel Tuesday. He is accused of fraud by wire, radio or television and engaging in illegal monetary transactions.
The business Patel is accused of defrauding is only called "Business A" in the court filing. However, the Jaguars have confirmed to First Coast News that this refers to the team.
According to the Jaguars, Patel was fired in Feb. 2023, and the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office have been investigating for several months. Patel was a former manager of financial planning and analysis, beginning in Sept. 2019.
The filing says he had access to a corporate VCC, which is a payment method that essentially functions as a credit card, without the need for a physical card. Patel was in charge of keeping track of these transactions in an Excel sheet and sending them to the accounting department.
According to the filing, he would document legitimate transactions like catering, airfare and hotel charges multiple times, document charges that were expected in the future, or inflate costs on his reports; this made it so the amount spent on the VCC appeared to match up with the Jaguars' expenses.
Using this strategy, Patel allegedly used the Jaguars' VCC to charge approximately $22,221,454 in fraudulent transactions.
In a statement Wednesday, the Jaguars said Patel "took advantage of his trusted position" to commit these crimes.
In addition to his condo, car and $95k watch, the U.S. Attorney's Office says Patel used the money to place bets with online gambling sites, pay for personal travel for himself in friends (including the private jet rides), purchase cryptocurrencies and NFTs, buy electronics, sports memorabilia, a country club membership, spa treatments, concert, sporting event tickets and home furnishing -- plus retaining a criminal defense lawyer.
The wire fraud charges stem from the accusations that Patel stole the money; the 'illegal monetary transaction' charge stems from his purchase of the watch, a Patek Phillipe Nautilus which was purchased from an online luxury consignment store based in San Francisco. This charge falls under illegal monetary transaction because it is considered interstate commerce.
If Patel is found guilty, he will have to forfeit enough property to equal the $22,221,454 price tag. The filing also specifies he will be asked to forfeit his condo, Tesla and watch (now devalued to $82,000, according to the documents).
First Coast News reached out to Patel's attorney at 9:18 p.m. Wednesday. He was not yet available at the time.
The full statement from the Jaguars is as following:
"We can confirm that in February 2023, the team terminated the employment of the individual named in the filing. 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."