Ex-NFL employee who embezzled $22M blames FanDuel for feeding gambling addiction

Amit Patel, who is serving a 6 1/2-year prison sentence in South Carolina, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in New York claiming that FanDuel ignored its own responsible gambling and anti-money laundering protocols, knew Patel was an employee of the NFL team and therefore not eligible to gamble legally, and knew that the $20 million he wagered on years of daily fantasy sports contests was either stolen or not from a legitimate source.

FanDuel declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

The lawsuit claimed FanDuel gave Patel over $1.1 million in gambling credits, and besieged him with enticements to gamble more, including having his personal host contact him up to 100 times 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,” said Patel’s lawyer, Matthew Litt.

The lawsuit says that on several occasions when Patel had not yet placed a bet that day, his host called him to ask why not. These communications started early in the morning and went late into the night, the lawsuit asserts.

It says New York-based FanDuel lavished gifts on Patel, including trips to the Super Bowl, the Masters golf tournament, auto racing and college basketball tournaments.

Patel pleaded guilty in December to wire fraud and other charges, and he agreed to repay the money he stole from the team.

His lawsuit closely resembles other legal actions brought in recent years by compulsive gamblers who blamed casinos or online gambling companies of preying on their addictions.

In September 2008, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by a former New York attorney who claimed seven casinos had a legal duty to stop her from gambling when they knew she was addicted to it.

And in February, a lawsuit brought by the same attorney who is representing Patel in the current one against FanDuel was dismissed after claiming Atlantic City casinos had a legal duty to cut off compulsive gamblers.

Similar lawsuits have been dismissed in other states.