Former Jaguars employee accused of stealing $22MILLION from the NFL team was a ‘legendarily bad’ gambler who would regularly lose tournaments that cost at least $24,000 to enter

The former Jacksonville Jaguars employee accused of stealing $22.2million from the NFL franchise was a ‘legendarily bad’ gambler who used the money ‘in a horribly misguided effort’ to fund his addiction.

Patel, a former financial manager for the Jaguars, is slated to appear in federal court on Thursday in Florida. He’s reportedly expected to plead guilty to charges of wire fraud and illegal monetary transaction.   

The 31-year-old is accused of using the money to buy two vehicles – a Tesla and Nissan pickup truck – a condominium in nearby Ponte Vedra Beach, a designer watch for $95,000, cryptocurrency and place bets with online gambling sites. 

It’s claimed Patel manipulated the team’s virtual credit card program (VCC). He was fired in February of this year. 

But Patel’s attorney, Alex King, said in a statement last week that his client suffers from addiction and that ‘approximately 99% of the funds misappropriated from the Jaguars’ VCC were gambling losses’. The lawyer also said Patel is ‘deeply remorseful’ and is receiving treatment for his addiction. 

According to ESPN, records show that since 2017 Patel – playing under the name ParlayPicker – bet nearly $500,000 on fantasy tournaments across the NFL, Major League Baseball, PGA Tour and UFC.  

He would play on FanDuel and DraftKings and Patel soon made a name for himself for heavy losses and rookie mistakes within gambling circles. 

As his reputation for recklessness spread, other players would reportedly seek out games against him. One gambler believes ParlayPicker, might be ‘the biggest loser ever on FanDuel.’

‘He was legendarily bad,’ they said.

Fellow bettors told ESPN that they believe his biggest losses came via high-stakes games that he regularly entered – against elite opposition, with a buy-in of more than $24,000. 

ESPN say records show that since 2017 Patel has bet nearly $500,000 on fantasy tournaments 

‘He came out of nowhere,’ one bettor told ESPN. ‘I remember having side conversations with some of my friends, who were like, “Who is this guy? And what is he doing?”‘

Fellow gamblers noticed Patel would pick players who weren’t in the starting lineup. Occasionally he wouldn’t even submit a team – despite paying a $3,000 buy-in – one claimed.

According to ESPN, the last recorded tournament ParlayPicker entered was the world golf championship on DraftKings. That was back in July – five months after he was fired by the Jaguars. The buy-in was $29,000 and ParlayPicker finished tied 129th out of 150.