FanDuel is facing a staggering lawsuit. Amit Patel filed a $250 million lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday. He accused the betting site of preying on his gambling addiction.
Patel, who previously worked for the Jacksonville Jaguars, is currently serving a six-and-half-year prison sentence. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud in March, admitting that he stole more than $22 million over the three years he managed the team’s virtual credit card program.
In court documents obtained by VICE, Patel claims that FanDuel, its parent companies, and several John and Jane Does knew he was “an addicted gambler.” The defendants were allegedly aware of that due to Patel’s more than $20 million in deposits, the frequency of his wagers, and preoccupation with betting between 2019 and 2023, the suit claims.
With that alleged knowledge, the lawsuit claims that the defendants “preyed” on Patel. They allegedly did so “by using its information about his addiction to target him for enticements.” Those perks allegedly included more than $1 million in site credits and “lavish gifts” including trips and tickets, per the suit. By doing so, the defendants exacerbated Patel’s “addiction with the only possible outcome that he would ultimately hit rock bottom.”
Eventually, Patel, who was diagnosed with gambling disorder in March 2023, began using the Jaguars’ credit card to place bets. The defendants allegedly “knew, or at least suspected and took steps to intentionally ignore” as much, according to the suit.
The lawsuit claims that the defendants violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, acted with negligence, intentionally inflicted emotional distress, and engaged in civil conspiracy. Patel is seeking judgment in the amount of $250 million for compensatory and punitive damages, interest, costs of suit, and other relief.
“The goal of the suit is a fair apportionment of responsibility among ALL responsible parties,” Matthew Litt, Patel’s lawyer, wrote on Facebook. “The suit certainly does not contend that Amit is blameless. But right now, Amit is facing 100 percent of the consequences for what happened while FanDuel is facing none—despite FanDuel’s very active role in Amit’s gambling disorder.”
Litt added, “The objective is not just to balance things out in Amit’s case, but to stop FanDuel from actively enticing addicted gamblers in the future.”
FanDuel has yet to speak out about the lawsuit.
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The post Imprisoned Ex-Jaguars Employee Sues FanDuel for $250M appeared first on VICE.
