How did this billion-dollar company not notice a finance staffer was robbing it blind?
The most common reason companies get ripped off by dishonest employees? Lack of oversight.
The Jacksonville Jaguars football franchise is just the latest example. The Jags made Amit Patel its manager of financial planning and analysis in 2018.
One of Patel’s core duties was overseeing the club’s virtual credit card (VCC). According to a media report, Patel served as the VCC administrator. He oversaw all transactions on the card which only a few club employees were allowed to use.
Apparently Patel loved gambling the day he started working for the Jags. His compulsion only grew worse as he now could access billionaire owner Shahid Khan’s credit. Patel bet on sports and fantasy leagues daily.
The Jags’ VCC covered many of his purchase and gambling losses for the next four years. Patel charged all of the following items to the card:
- a condominium in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
- personal travel for himself and friends including chartered private jets and luxury hotels
- a new Tesla Model 3 sedan
- a Nissan pickup truck
- a personal trainer
- a retainer with a criminal defense law firm
- cyptocurrency and non-fungible tokens
- a country club membership
- concert and sporting event tickets, and
- a Patek Phillipe wrist watch that cost six figures.
Total price tag: $22 million!
No one spotted the red flags
Patel lived the high life a lot longer than he should’ve. At many companies, an accounts payable employee with a pulse would’ve noticed the expenses and started asking questions within a month or two at the longest.
No one caught on to Patel’s shenanigans or blew the whistle for years. Patel doctored accounts for the monthly charges to justify the expenses. Khan and others trusted Patel which was their fatal mistake.
All of the lies and fraud came crashing down on Patel. In late 2022, the club learned of an ongoing FBI investigation of him. The Jags cooperated with the feds as they built a case against him.
When confronted with the evidence, Patel admitted what he’d done. The Jags fired him in early 2023. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Jacksonville is charging Patel with one count of wire fraud and one count of illegal monetary transactions.
Patel is expected to plead guilty. His lawyer says he regrets his actions and blames it on a gambling addiction.
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