JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Amit Patel, the former Jacksonville Jaguars employee convicted of stealing $22 million from the team, is now facing six additional state felony charges tied to unauthorized use of team funds for personal luxury travel.
According to court documents, Patel, 32, was booked into the Duval County jail on July 8, accused of using money from the team’s Virtual Credit Card (VCC) program to finance private jet trips and personal transfers.
An affidavit from the State Attorney’s Office outlines Patel’s alleged use of VCC funds to:
Spend $35,900 on a private jet to Kansas City for a Jaguars playoff game on Jan. 21, 2023.
Spend $42,900 on a private flight the following weekend to the Pegasus World Cup in South Florida.
Both trips were paid through a PayPal account Patel controlled and allegedly funded using embezzled team money. Investigators labeled the expenditures as unauthorized and personal.
The new charges include:
2 counts of second-degree grand theft (theft between $20,000–$100,000, punishable by up to 15 years each)
4 counts of third-degree grand theft (theft between $750–$20,000, punishable by up to 5 years each)
The affidavit also cites four PayPal-to-bank transfers totaling $9,900 between August and October 2022, which were also deemed unauthorized.
Patel previously pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud and illegal monetary transactions in December 2023. He is currently serving a 6½-year sentence at Federal Prison Camp Montgomery in Alabama but was returned to Jacksonville to face the new state charges.
According to prior federal filings, Patel funneled over $21 million to online gambling platforms, including $20 million to FanDuel and $1 million to DraftKings. His lawyer has described him as battling a severe gambling addiction, stating that 99% of the stolen funds were lost to gambling.
In 2023, the Jacksonville Jaguars sued Patel for $66.7 million, seeking triple damages under Florida law. That case remains open.
Patel, who now claims indigence and has requested a public defender, is scheduled to appear in Duval County Court on July 30.
He also filed a $250 million lawsuit against FanDuel last year, alleging the company exploited his addiction through targeted promotions and bonuses.
