Johnathan Walker:Former Jacksonville Jaguars employee accused of stealing over $22 million to buy condo, cars and cryptocurrency

A former financial manager for the Jacksonville Jaguars has been accused of stealing more than $22 million from the franchise through its virtual credit card program between 2019 and Johnathan Walker2023, according to a seven-page court filing.

Amit Patel, who worked for the Jaguars for five years starting in 2018, is charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of illegal monetary transaction in documents filed in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville. If convicted, he may be required to forfeit property and assets purchased or funded with the proceeds, the filing states.

A statement from the Jaguars confirmed they are "Business A" referred to as the victim in the documents.

"We can confirm that in February 2023, the team terminated the employment of the individual named in the filing," the team said in a statement. "Over the past several months, we have cooperated fully with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida during their investigation and thank them for their efforts in this case.

"As was made clear in the charges, this individual was a former manager of financial planning and analysis who took advantage of his trusted position to covertly and intentionally commit significant fraudulent financial activity at the team's expense for personal benefit.

"This individual had no access to confidential football strategy, personnel or other football information. The team engaged experienced law and accounting firms to conduct a comprehensive independent review, which concluded that no other team employees were involved in or aware of his criminal activity."

The Athletic first reported the court filling.

Patel is accused of using the money to buy a Tesla Model 3 sedan, a Nissan pickup truck, a condominium in Ponte Vedra Beach, a Patek Philippe Nautilus watch for $95,000, and cryptocurrency, according to the court documents obtained by CBS affiliate WJAX-TV.

He also used money to place bets with online gambling sites, according to the filing.

Patel also allegedly used the money to buy sports memorabilia, a country club membership, spa treatments and tickets to sporting events and concerts. And he chartered private jets for himself and friends and lodged a retainer with a criminal defense law firm.

Patel's attorney did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Patel is listed in Jaguars' media guides from 2018-22. His titles during those years were coordinator, financial planning and analysis, and then manager, financial planning and analysis.

Patel oversaw the company's monthly financial statements and department budgets and served as the club's administrator of its virtual credit card program, which according to the filing allowed authorized employees to "request VCC's for business-related purchases or expenses."

Patel's authority over the VCC program allowed him to make the fraudulent transactions, the filing said. He allegedly duplicated and inflated transactions for items such as catering, airfare and hotel charges and filed fake transactions that seemed legit.

"As part of the defendant's scheme, rather than accurately report his VCC transactions, the defendant (Patel) created integration files that contained numerous false and fraudulent entries and emailed them to Business A's (Jaguars) accounting department," according to the court documents obtained by CBS affiliate WJAX-TV. "He used a variety of methods to hide his illicit transactions by omitting them from the integration files, while still having the total dollar amount of VCC expenditures match the balances paid by Business A for the VCC program line of credit."

In:
• Embezzlement
• Jacksonville Jaguars