Indian American Amit Patel gets 6 years for embezzling $22 million from Jaguars

Indian American Amit Patel, a former employee of the Jacksonville Jaguars, has been sentenced to six years and six months in federal prison for wire fraud and illegal monetary transactions. U.S. District Judge Henry L. Adams handed down the sentence on Thursday, following Patel’s guilty plea on December 14, 2023. In addition to prison time, Patel has been ordered to forfeit $22,221,454.40, the proceeds of his fraudulent activities, and pay full restitution to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

READ: Who’s Amit Patel, the Indian American accused of embezzling $22 million from Jacksonville Jaguars? (December 9, 2023)

Court documents revealed that Patel, 31, orchestrated a sophisticated fraud scheme over several years, siphoning approximately $22 million from the Jaguars. Acting as the administrator for the team’s virtual credit card (VCC) program, Patel exploited his position to make hundreds of unauthorized purchases and transactions lacking any legitimate business purpose. To cover his tracks, Patel fabricated accounting files with false entries, which he then submitted to the Jaguars’ accounting department. His methods included duplicating legitimate transactions, inflating amounts, fabricating plausible but nonexistent transactions, and manipulating transaction dates.

The fraudulent activities commenced in September 2019 and persisted until Patel’s termination from the Jaguars in February 2023. During this time, Patel utilized the ill-gotten gains for various personal expenditures, including gambling on online platforms, purchasing real estate, luxury vehicles, and electronics, as well as acquiring cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens. Notably, Patel failed to report any of this income on his tax returns.

The case was a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). Assistant United States Attorneys Brenna Falzetta and Michael J. Coolican prosecuted the case, with asset forfeiture handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Mai Tran and Jennifer Harrington.

Mark Dargis, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division, underscored the severity of Patel’s actions, stating,

“Amit Patel knowingly and wittingly created a deceptive scheme to fund a lavish lifestyle at his employer’s expense, and today’s sentencing is a warning to other scam artists.” Dargis emphasized the FBI’s commitment to safeguarding American companies and consumers by aggressively pursuing corporate fraud investigations.

IRS-CI Acting Special Agent in Charge Lani Rosado-Espinal pointed out Patel’s deceitful conduct, highlighting the significant efforts to dismantle complex fraud and money laundering operations. “IRS-CI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to provide the financial expertise to unravel sophisticated fraud and money laundering schemes, ”Rosado-Espinal said.

As the American Bazaar reported in December, the Jaguars terminated Patel’s employment in February 2023, fully cooperated with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office during the investigation.

Patel reportedly bought a Patek Philippe Nautilus watch, valued at over $95,000, allegedly paid for entirely with the “proceeds of his fraud scheme.”

According to court documents, Patel’s purported expenditures include a new Tesla car, a Nissan pickup truck, and investments in cryptocurrency. He also used diverted funds to purchase property in the upscale area of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.