Jacksonville Jaguars receives the $20million Stolen by the Team Finance Manager but faces sack option
An NFL team wants millions back from a sports betting service.
The Jacksonville Jaguars, a team that recently found out that a finance manager stole some $22 million and lost most of it on sports bets with FanDuel, an online betting service, has asked FanDuel to refund the money, ESPN.com reported.
Amit Patel, who worked for the Jaguars for five years, pleaded guilty in December to stealing the millions through the use of a virtual credit card the team used for expenses. About $20 million was paid directly to FanDuel, and another $1 million to DraftKings, a rival online betting site, ESPN said, citing knowledgeable sources.
It’s unclear if the team has much of a chance to recover the money. Federal anti-money-laundering laws appear to require sports betting operations to ensure that funds were not illegally obtained. But the rules may not apply to daily fantasy games, the sports news site reported.
Patel’s sentencing has been set for March. He could face up to 30 years in prison.
The Florida Supreme Court has resolved a conflict between differing appeals court decisions, deciding that property insurers can be compelled to submit to the appraisal process long before causation, coverage and misrepresentation issues are settled in claims disputes.
“For the reasons explained below, we approve the Second District’s decision and disapprove the certified conflict cases to the extent they are inconsistent with this opinion,” the high court said Thursday.
The opinion in American Coastal Insurance Co. vs. San Marco Villas Condominium Association could be seen as a setback for insurance carriers that have relied on 2010 and 2014 appellate rulings to refuse appraisals in certain cases. The ruling could also be considered a rare win for Florida condo associations, which have been battered by soaring premiums, greatly reduced coverage limits and painful inspection and repair costs that can’t easily be postponed, under a 2022 statute.
The central issue in the American Coastal case was when appraisals can be ordered. Most property insurers include an appraisal clause in policies. In that process, a panel of experts arrive at a repair cost when policyholders and insurers’ amounts differ.
In this case, American Coastal may have hoped to escape or postpone the appraisal due to the huge difference in repair estimates and because of questions about the validity of the condo’s claimed amount. AmCoastal, which until last year was affiliated with now-insolvent United Property & Casualty Insurance, had offered $192,629, after depreciation and deductible, for a San Marco claim submitted after Hurricane Irma hit in 2017.
