Current:Home > MyEx-Jaguars worker who stole $22M from team sues FanDuel, saying it preyed on his gambling addiction-LoTradeCoin
Ex-Jaguars worker who stole $22M from team sues FanDuel, saying it preyed on his gambling addiction
View Date:2024-12-23 23:57:17
A former financial manager for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars who stole $22 million from the team is suing FanDuel for $250 million, saying the betting company preyed on his gambling addiction.
Amit Patel, who is serving a 6 1/2-year prison sentence in South Carolina, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in New York claiming that FanDuel ignored its own responsible gambling and anti-money laundering protocols, knew Patel was an employee of the NFL team and therefore not eligible to gamble legally, and knew that the $20 million he wagered on years of daily fantasy sports contests was either stolen or not from a legitimate source.
FanDuel declined comment, citing the pending litigation.
The lawsuit claimed FanDuel gave Patel over $1.1 million in gambling credits, and besieged him with enticements to gamble more, including having his personal host contact 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 Patel’s lawyer, Matthew Litt.
The lawsuit says that on several occasions when Patel had not yet placed a bet that day, his host called him to ask why not. These communications started early in the morning and went late into the night, the lawsuit asserts.
It says New York-based FanDuel lavished gifts on Patel, including trips to the Super Bowl, the Masters golf tournament, auto racing and college basketball tournaments.
Patel pleaded guilty in December to wire fraud and other charges, and he agreed to repay the money he stole from the team.
His lawsuit closely resembles other legal actions brought in recent years by compulsive gamblers who blamed casinos or online gambling companies of preying on their addictions.
In September 2008, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by a former New York attorney who claimed seven casinos had a legal duty to stop her from gambling when they knew she was addicted to it.
And in February, a lawsuit brought by the same attorney who is representing Patel in the current one against FanDuel was dismissed after claiming Atlantic City casinos had a legal duty to cut off compulsive gamblers.
Similar lawsuits have been dismissed in other states.
___
Follow Wayne Parry on X at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC
veryGood! (68)
Related
- Halle Berry Rocks Sheer Dress She Wore to 2002 Oscars 22 Years Later
- Nearly 50 homes in Kalamazoo County were destroyed by heavy storms last week
- An Alabama Coal Company Sued for a Home Explosion That Killed a Man Is Delinquent on Dozens of Penalties, Records Show
- Noah Cyrus Shares Message to Mom Tish Amid Family Rift Rumors
- Noem’s Cabinet appointment will make a plain-spoken rancher South Dakota’s new governor
- Jake Paul the villain? Boxer discusses meeting Mike Tyson face to face before their fight
- Stock market today: Asian shares mixed in muted trading after Wall Street barely budges
- Florida man who survived Bahamas shark attack shares how he kept his cool: 'I'll be alright'
- 'Yellowstone' premiere: Record ratings, Rip's ride and Billy Klapper's tribute
- GOP attorneys general sue Biden administration and California over rules on gas-powered trucks
Ranking
- How Alex Jones’ Infowars wound up in the hands of The Onion
- What to know about Trump fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen’s pivotal testimony in the hush money trial
- Massachusetts is turning a former prison into a shelter for homeless families
- Families suing over 2021 jet fuel leak into Navy drinking water in Hawaii seek $225K to $1.25M
- Why was Jalen Ramsey traded? Dolphins CB facing former team on 'Monday Night Football'
- Influencers promote raw milk despite FDA health warnings as bird flu spreads in dairy cows
- Steve Carell and John Krasinski’s The Office Reunion Deserves a Dundie Award
- Body of New Mexico man recovered from Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park
Recommendation
-
After years of unrest, Commanders have reinvented their culture and shattered expectations
-
Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt's Daughter Vivienne Makes Rare TV Appearance
-
Van driver dies in rear-end crash with bus on I-74, several others are lightly injured
-
IRA or 401(k)? 3 lesser-known perks to putting your retirement savings in a 401(k)
-
Gold is suddenly not so glittery after Trump’s White House victory
-
California high schoolers awarded $1 million after 'blackface' claims linked to acne-mask photos
-
Steve Carell and John Krasinski’s The Office Reunion Deserves a Dundie Award
-
Horoscopes Today, May 12, 2024