NKE - Former Facebook Nike DEI Manager Entrusted With 'Doing The Right Thing' Gets Over 5 Years In Prison For $5M Fraud | Benzinga
A former diversity manager at Facebook and Nike has been sentenced to over five years in prison for orchestrating a multi-million dollar fraud scheme.
What Happened: Barbara Furlow-Smiles, a Georgia resident, was found guilty of wire fraud in December. She was charged with embezzling over $4.9 million from Facebook using a fraudulent vendor scheme, fake invoices, and cash kickbacks, reported CNBC on Thursday.
"After being terminated from Facebook, she brazenly continued the fraud as a DEI leader at Nike, where she stole another six-figure sum from their diversity program," Atlanta U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said in a statement.
She used the stolen money to fund a luxurious lifestyle in California, Georgia, and Oregon. Furlow-Smiles, 38, was a lead strategist and global head of employee resource groups and diversity engagement at Facebook, a subsidiary of Meta Platforms Inc.
Prosecutors revealed that she ...