Amit Patel's lawyer cites gambling addiction for embezzlement from Jaguars
Former Jaguars executive Amit Patel allegedly embezzled more than $22 million from the team. His lawyer blames it on a gambling addiction.
Specifically, attorney Alex King said Thursday, via ESPN.com, that Patel manipulated the team's virtual credit card program "to gamble on Daily Fantasy Sports" with FanDuel and DraftKings, and that "approximately 99% of the misappropriated funds" were related to gambling losses.
"Mr. Patel is deeply remorseful and apologizes for his conduct," King said. "He loved working for the Jacksonville Jaguars and regrets his actions which have resulted in him both losing his dream job and damaging the organization. Mr. Patel remains in treatment and intends to seek ongoing treatment for the foreseeable future."
The NFL claims that Patel's actions had no relationship with football operations or interests.
"A league review uncovered no evidence indicating any inside information was used or that any game was compromised in any way," the league told ESPN in a statement.
While there's no reason to doubt the truthfulness of that claim, it's naive to think the NFL would volunteer to the world that an employee used inside information or others compromised any game in any way. That's the kind of scandal that would get the attention of Congress or other governmental authorities that would explore the full extent of protections that the NFL has developed to ensure that inside information is not misused and/or that the integrity of the game is not compromised.
It's also naive to think that Patel didn't at least try to find out anything he could find out that would give him an edge, if he was wagering on players who play for the Jaguars. If he was in deep enough to steal more than $22 million, he'd surely try to get any advantage that he could, any way he could.
Common sense suggests there's a lot more to this story. Common sense suggests that the NFL and the Jaguars, who allowed this mess to unfold under their noses, would prefer that the story be ignored.
Regardless, the gambling controversy that becomes a full-blown scandal is coming. It's inevitable. There's a chance it's already happening.