(Patriot.Buzz) – Taking advantage of a pointless leftwing initiative, Facebook and Nike former diversity program manager Barbara Furlow-Smiles has been sentenced to five years in prison for embezzling over $5 million from these brands to support her “luxury lifestyle.”
The Justice Department disclosed that the 38-year-old crafted fictitious business deals and invoices, including one for a Juneteenth event, to siphon funds from her employers.
“Furlow-Smiles shamelessly violated her position of trust as a DEI executive at Facebook to steal millions from the company utilizing a scheme involving fraudulent vendors, fake invoices, and cash kickbacks,” stated US Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan.
Although Facebook fired her, she boldly continued her fraudulent activities at Nike, swindling another substantial sum from their diversity program.
In December, Furlow-Smiles admitted to orchestrating a wire fraud scheme, taking more than $4.9 million from Facebook and then a six-figure sum from Nike.
Her crimes funded her lavish lifestyle across California, Georgia and Oregon, according to the DOJ.
From January 2017 to September 2021, Furlow-Smiles led DEI programs at Facebook, where she was tasked with creating and implementing initiatives.
She exploited her role to authorize payments to accomplices for nonexistent services. These individuals included former interns and personal service providers who then funneled the stolen money back to her.
In one instance, she paid nearly $10,000 to an artist for specialty portraits and over $18,000 to a preschool, none of which provided kickbacks.
To conceal her fraud, she submitted fake expense reports and falsely claimed these payments were for legitimate company services.
Keeping up her deceit at Nike, she used her corporate card linked to personal payment services for kickbacks. She then again covered her tracks with fraudulent expense reports, this time supposedly for a Juneteenth event she was organizing.
Ultimately, Furlow-Smiles was ordered to repay Facebook and Nike more than $5 million.
She was sentenced to five years and three months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, marking a quick fall from grace in her professional career.
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