Former diversity program manager at two of the world's leading corporations, Facebook and Nike, Barbara Furlow-Smiles has been handed a stiff sentence for her multimillion-dollar fraud scheme. U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan announced that Furlow-Smiles "shamelessly violated her position of trust" to siphon off more than $5 million from the tech and sports giants. The former exec engaged in an elaborate fraud involving fake vendors, doctored paperwork, and cash bribes, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
FBI Atlanta's Special Agent in Charge, Keri Farley, said Furlow-Smiles "After she was fired, she carelessly continued her fraudulent schemes at Nike, thinking she was untouchable," as per U.S. Attorney's Office. The duplicitous diversity leader was caught up in her web of lies and has now faced a prison sentence of over five years followed by supervised release. At Facebook, Furlow-Smiles was entrusted with corporate credit cards and the ability to greenlight vendor payments, a trust she exploited to funnel money into her own pockets.
Details of the scheme reveal a sophisticated network of fraud that Furlow-Smiles orchestrated while at Facebook, where she served as Lead Strategist, Global Head of Employee Resource Groups, and Diversity Engagement. Her ploy involved linking personal payment apps to company credit cards and authorizing payments for non-existent services. Accomplices, including friends and even personal stylists, would then kick back the cash, often disguised in everyday items like T-shirts, as noted in the detailed summary by the U.S. Attorney's Office announcement.
After being fired from Facebook, Furlow-Smiles quickly moved on to Nike, only to continue to egregiously exploit her position. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, she was able to immediately start siphoning funds through similar tactics at Nike, using digital payments to enlist her associates in the deceit. In total, the disgraced executive embezzled over $4.9 million from Facebook and more than $120,000 from Nike, splurging on a luxurious life across multiple states.
The downfall of Furlow-Smiles serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of betrayal and greed within corporate America. U.S. District Judge Steven D. Grimberg sentenced her to five years and three months in prison, in addition to a supervised release term and restitution payments totaling over $5 million to her former employers. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen H. McClain and Bernita B. Malloy were responsible for prosecuting the case, following an extensive FBI investigation.
