FanDuel owner Flutter Entertainment is responding to allegations of fostering the gambling addiction of a former Jacksonville Jaguars employee who embezzled millions.
According to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Flutter and FanDuel have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought against them by former Jaguars finance manager Amit Patel for allegedly facilitating his gambling addiction.
In his initial suit filed in October 2024, Patel claimed Flutter, FanDuel and three other defendants “actively and intentionally targeted and preyed” on him leading him to gamble over $20 million in four years. Patel embezzled millions using the team’s virtual credit card to fund DFS entries on FanDuel and purchase luxury personal items and vacations.
The items included a putter used by golf legend Tiger Woods that sold for $47,113.
Between 2019 and 2023, Patel alleges that FanDuel knew of his gambling addiction through its collection of data and claimed the operator violated the Florida Deceptive Practices and Unfair Trade Practices Act. He also alleged FanDuel violated the law by offering him enticements to gamble through a VIP host who also offered gifts and trips to major events.
Patel is seeking $250 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
FanDuel and Flutter’s arguments against Patel
In the motion to dismiss, Flutter and FanDuel argue that Patel and his legal team have failed to provide a basis for the district court to have personal jurisdiction over Flutter and that his lawsuit is improper as the complaint is based on his own illegal misconduct.
The two entities also argue that Patel fails to identify any factual basis for suing Flutter.
In the motion, Flutter claims that Patel’s guilty plea to wire fraud charges is taking responsibility for his actions but that the former finance manager is now attempting to place responsibility on Flutter and its FanDuel brand with the assertion that the entities knew about the illegal use of the Jaguars’ VCC and didn’t attempt to stop him.
“Patel’s improper strategy in this case is to speculate—without citing any specific evidence—that Flutter plotted against him,” said attorneys for Flutter. “Instead of alleging a single relevant fact about Flutter’s misconduct or a single fact that would allow this court to pierce its corporate veil, Patel only alleges that Flutter has an unidentified ownership stake in FanDuel and generates billions of dollars in gambling revenue from unknown sources.”
No duty to prevent Patel’s gambling
Flutter and FanDuel arued that they owe “no duty to avoid enticing him to enter daily fantasy sports contents, and regardless, he does not establish that they caused his losses,” said the motion.
In the motion, Flutter also supported its argument of not having a duty to stop Patel from gambling by citing the federal Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), which requires financial institutions to comply with anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer guidelines.
Despite the requirement, Flutter argues that the BSA does not apply to DFS operators despite the company adhering to anti-money laundering and KYC standards voluntarily.
“Nothing in the BSA requires daily fantasy sports contests to comply with KYC, AML, and CDD rules,” said the motion. “And it is irrelevant that defendants allegedly adopted a program implementing those requirements, because in Florida, a private company’s internal policies do not independently create a legal duty where one did not already exist.”
Patel brought the suit in New York but the motion to dismiss argued that there was no standing for it to serve as the jurisdiction for the case given that Patel lived Florida when playing on the site.
The gambling giant also argues its VIP services are comparable to other rewards programs.
“Accepting Patel’s allegations as true, much of what he describes is simply a more aggressive form of commonplace incentives that entertainment companies use to build relationships with their customers, including gifts, bonuses, refunds, and personalized communications—not conduct that is ‘atrocious,’” said the motion.
Fox & Boyd dismissed from Patel’s suit
Earlier this month, Patel voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit against FOX and Boyd Gaming. In the motion to dismiss, Flutter argued Patel failed to make a case as to why the parent company should be named as a defendant in the case as well.
Last March, Patel was sentenced to more than six years in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to wire fraud and engaging in an illegal monetary transaction. Patel, who is serving his 78-month sentence at FCI Williamsburg in South Carolina, must pay $2.1 million in restitution. Per release conditions, he must pay the Jaguars $250 a month.