Former Facebook, Nike Executive Sentenced for Stealing from Employers
A former Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) executive at Facebook and Nike, is sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for stealing millions from her former employers and using the money to fund a luxurious lifestyle.
Prosecutors say Barbara Furlow-Smiles stole more than $4.9 million from Facebook and at least $120,000 from Nike, in a brazen scam that involved fraudulent vendors, fictitious paperwork, and cash kickbacks.
“Her prison sentence reflects the consequences of her decision to orchestrate an intricate scheme to defraud two of her employers for personal profit,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Northern Georgia Ryan K. Buchanan.
Smiles, a resident of Marietta, Georgia, was also ordered to pay restitution for the amount stolen.
Scheme Details
Smiles worked at Facebook from January 2017 to September 2021, and led DEI programs. She later took a job at Nike in a similar position.
At Facebook, Smiles had access to company credit cards, and authority to submit purchase requisitions and approve invoices.
According to prosecutors, Smiles “caused Facebook to pay numerous individuals for goods and services that were never provided and then directed those individuals to kick back the fraudulent proceeds to her, often in cash.”
Smiles linked personal PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App accounts to the Facebook credit cards, and used those accounts to pay friends, relatives, and other associates for “goods and services that in truth were never provided to Facebook.”
To conceal the charges, Furlow-Smiles submitted fake expense reports.
Prosecutors say after the money was received by her network, the vast majority was returned to Furlow-Smiles. The kickbacks were paid in cash in person and by mail, sometimes wrapped in T-shirts. Furlow-Smiles also directed associates to pay one another, or others to whom she owed money, to conceal her involvement in the scheme.
According to court documents, numerous people were involved in the scheme including friends, relatives, former interns from a prior job, nannies, a hair stylist, and her university tutor. She also caused Facebook to pay about $10,000 to an artist for portraits and more than $18,000 to a preschool tuition.
Nike
After Furlow-Smiles was terminated from Facebook, she worked for Nike from November 2021 to February 2023 as Senior Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Prosecutors say she orchestrated a similar scheme at the shoe giant, linking her Nike corporate card to her PayPal and Venmo account. The associates kicked back portions of the payments to Furlow-Smiles, who submitted fraudulent expense reports to Nike to cover her tracks. The expense reports falsely claimed that the payments were related to a Juneteenth event Smiles oversaw.
“As Lead Strategist at Facebook, Furlow-Smiles’ employer put an extreme amount of trust in her, only to have that trust completely violated,” said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “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.”