Ex-Nike And Facebook Manager Sentenced To Prison After She Confessed She Embezzled $5 Million For Luxurious Lifestyle
A former diversity program manager at Nike and Facebook was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $5 million from the companies.
The US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced how Barbara Furlow-Smiles' fraudulent activities began in 2017 while she led Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at Facebook until 2021. Furlow-Smiles, who had access to company credit cards, was responsible for developing and executing DEI initiatives, operations, and engagement programs.
Per Business Insider, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said Furlow-Smiles exploited her position and initiated a scheme that involved fraudulent vendors and fake invoices. Through this scheme, she embezzled funds to pay for personal expenses and a luxurious lifestyle in Georgia, Oregon and California.
Furlow-Smiles fraudulently paid vendors listed as friends, relatives, former interns, nannies, and a hair stylist, who would then repay most of the funds to her through PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App. Her associates would receive kickbacks for their involvement. The services she paid for were not offered to Facebook.
"To conceal the bogus charges on her Facebook credit cards, Furlow-Smiles submitted fraudulent expense reports, falsely claiming that her associates or their businesses performed work on programs and events for Facebook, such as providing swag or marketing services when, in fact, they had not done so," the Northern District of Georgia said in a statement. "To further conceal her actions, Furlow-Smiles also directed associates to pay one another, or others who she owed money."
After the 38-year-old was fired from the multinational technology conglomerate, Furlow-Smiles continued her fraudulent activity at Nike, stealing from their diversity programs. In total, she misappropriated $4.9 million from Facebook and $120,000 from Nike within six years.
Keri Farley, Special Agent In Charge of FBI Atlanta, said in a statement how "Furlow-Smiles' employer put an extreme amount of trust in her, only to have that trust completely violated. After she was fired, she carelessly continued her fraudulent schemes at Nike, thinking she was untouchable. As a result, she not only threw away a lucrative career, but will serve time behind bars for her excessive greed."
Furlow-Smiles plead guilty to wire fraud in December 2023 and was ordered to make restitution payments of nearly $5 million to Facebook and $120,000 to Nike.
Nike said her "complete lack of accountability or remorse was incredibly disappointing," according to memos obtained by CNBC.
"This defendant abused a position of a trust as a global diversity executive for Facebook to defraud the company of millions of dollars, ignoring the insidious consequences of undermining the importance of her DEI mission," said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. "Motivated by greed, she used her time to orchestrate an elaborate criminal scheme in which fraudulent vendors paid her kickbacks in cash. She even involved relatives, friends, and other associates in her crimes, all to fund a lavish lifestyle through fraud rather than hard and honest work."
