Amit Patel, the ex-Jacksonville Jaguars employee who pleaded guilty to stealing $22 million from the team, , claiming they purposely ignored their own protocols for responsible gambling and anti-money laundering in order to keep him playing fantasy sports. He is asking for $250 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Attorneys for the 31-year-old Patel, who is currently serving a six and a half year prison sentence at a federal facility in North Carolina, filed the civil suit in the Southern district of New York on Tuesday.
Here's what Matthew Litt, one of those attorneys, wrote in the suit about FanDuel's alleged liability in this case. "Defendants actively and intentionally targeted and preyed on Plaintiff with incentives, credits, and gifts to create, nurture, expedite, and/or exacerbate his addiction with the only possible outcome that he would ultimately hit rock bottom." Patel transferred around $20 million to FanDuel over three and a half years and claims that he was given luxury incentives to continue gambling despite displaying signs of problem gambling.
Those incentives included attending the Super Bowl, the College Football Playoff championship, and the Masters. The suit names a FanDuel employee, Brett Krause, who was Patel's VIP host at FanDuel, as playing a major role in the alleged exploitation of Patel's gambling addiction. Krause allegedly messaged Patel numerous times a day (sometimes up to 100), and would also message him on days he wasn't betting to f.