A former monetary supervisor for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars who stole $22 million from the group is suing FanDuel for $250 million, saying the betting firm preyed on his playing habit.
Amit Patel, who’s serving a 6 1/2-year jail sentence in South Carolina, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal courtroom in New York claiming that FanDuel ignored its personal accountable playing and anti-money laundering protocols, knew Patel was an worker of the NFL group and due to this fact not eligible to gamble legally, and knew that the $20 million he wagered on years of each day fantasy sports activities contests was both stolen or not from a respectable supply.
FanDuel declined to remark, citing the pending litigation.
The lawsuit claimed FanDuel gave Patel over $1.1 million in playing credit, and besieged him with enticements to gamble extra, together with having his private host contact him as much as 100 occasions a day.
“The complaint certainly does not claim the addicted gambler is blameless, but the suit does try to apportion responsibility in a way that accounts for FanDuel’s very active involvement in his gambling addiction,” mentioned Patel’s lawyer, Matthew Litt.
The lawsuit says that on a number of events when Patel had not but positioned a guess that day, his host referred to as him to ask why not. These communications began early within the morning and went late into the night time, the lawsuit asserts.
It says New York-based FanDuel lavished presents on Patel, together with journeys to the Tremendous Bowl, the Masters golf match, auto racing and school basketball tournaments.
Patel pleaded responsible in December to wire fraud and different prices, and he agreed to repay the cash he stole from the group.
His lawsuit carefully resembles different authorized actions introduced in recent times by compulsive gamblers who blamed casinos or on-line playing firms of preying on their addictions.
In September 2008, a federal choose dismissed a lawsuit introduced by a former New York legal professional who claimed seven casinos had a authorized responsibility to cease her from playing once they knew she was hooked on it.
And in February, a lawsuit introduced by the identical legal professional who’s representing Patel within the present one in opposition to FanDuel was dismissed after claiming Atlantic Metropolis casinos had a authorized responsibility to chop off compulsive gamblers.
Related lawsuits have been dismissed in different states.
