A former employee defrauded the Jacksonville Jaguars of $22 million. Now, it appears that partial compensation will be paid – by a betting company.

A former employee defrauded the Jacksonville Jaguars of $22 million, but now the NFL franchise can apparently hope for at least partial compensation. According to ESPN, the Jaguars will get back some of the money that a former employee who worked in the team’s finance department stole for gambling purposes.

According to the report, betting provider FanDuel will pay the team around $5 million.

Former employee Amit Patel transferred 20 of the 22 million stolen to FanDuel, with another million going to provider DraftKings. He used the money to place sports bets and play fantasy games, among other things.

According to the perpetrator’s lawyer, he lost “approximately 99 percent” of the stolen money through gambling.

According to a December 2023 ESPN report, another fantasy player described Patel as “the biggest loser of all time at FanDuel” and generally “legendarily bad” at sports betting.

FanDuel wants to be a good NFL partner

FanDuel has already been “encouraged” by the NFL to reach an agreement with the Jaguars. However, according to the report, the league has not ‘actively’ participated in the talks.

“FanDuel was motivated to compensate the Jaguars in order to be a good partner to the league,” the report continues.

In March 2024, Patel was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and ordered to pay $21.2 million in damages to the Jaguars. He must also participate in a support group for gambling addicts.