FanDuel to pay Jaguars about $5M to offset $20M stolen and wagered

FanDuel has agreed to pay the Jacksonville Jaguars roughly $5 million to help offset nearly $20 million that a former team financial manager stole and wagered at the sportsbook, a person familiar with the discussions said Friday. The settlement, finalized earlier this year, resolves part of a complex criminal and civil saga that began with the discovery of the thefts in 2023 and has prompted federal charges, prison time and multiple lawsuits.

The former employee, Amit Patel, pleaded guilty last year to federal charges including wire fraud and illegal monetary transactions after prosecutors say he siphoned about $22 million from the Jaguars through a virtual credit card program used for business expenses. Court filings say Patel duplicated and inflated invoices for items such as catering, airfare and hotels and submitted fictitious transactions to disguise the thefts, which investigators say occurred between September 2019 and February 2023. Patel was sentenced in March 2024 to six and a half years in federal prison and was ordered to pay roughly $21 million in restitution. He has also faced state charges and was moved to a local jail after additional prosecutions were filed.