On the evening of the 17th Beijing time, U.S. federal prosecutors said a former diversity manager at Facebook and Nike was sentenced to five years and three months in prison for stealing more than $5 million from companies designated for use in the DEI program.
Georgia resident Barbara Furlow-Smiles pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a December case in which she stole more than $4.9 million from Facebook "using a scheme involving fraudulent suppliers, false invoices and cash rebates," Atlanta U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said in a statement.
Buchanan saidbosconian:"After being fired by Facebook, she unscrupulously continued the fraud as head of Nike's DEI, where she stole another six-figure payment from their diversity plan.
Smiles, 38, used the money she stole "for her luxurious lifestyle in California, Georgia and Oregon," according to Buchanan's office, which asked the judge to sentence her to 6 and a half years in prison.
Smiles previously served as chief strategist and global head of employee resource group and diversity engagement for Meta subsidiary Facebook. She is not Facebook's top executive for diversity, fairness and inclusiveness.
While on Facebook, prosecutors said, she linked PayPal, Venmo and Cash App accounts to her Facebook credit card, and then used those accounts to pay her friends, relatives and others for alleged goods and services that the company had never delivered.