Barbara Furlow-Smiles attends the 2020 Sisters’ Awards at Skirball Cultural Center on March 08, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Robin L Marshall/Getty Images)
Robin L Marshall | Getty Images
A former world diversity strategist at Facebook pleaded guilty to wire fraud after stealing more than $4 million from the social media big “to fund a lavish life-style” in California and Georgia, federal prosecutors stated.
Barbara Furlow-Smiles, who led varied Facebook Diversity, Equity and Inclusion applications from 2017 by means of mid-2021, stole the cash “by means of an elaborate scheme involving fraudulent distributors, fictitious costs, and money kickbacks,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta stated in a press release.
Furlow-Smiles, who pled guilty in Atlanta federal courtroom on Monday, was not the highest DEI leader for Facebook, whose father or mother company is Meta.
Among different issues, prosecutors stated, Furlow-Smiles, 38, triggered Facebook to pay folks for items and companies that have been by no means truly supplied to the company after which had these people pay her kickbacks.
“These people included pals, family, former interns from a previous job, nannies and babysitters, a hair stylist, and her college tutor,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.
In some cases, Furlow-Smiles had Facebook pay individuals who didn’t give her kickbacks, in a single case directing $10,000 to an artist for specialty portraits, and more than $18,000 to a preschool for tuition, prosecutors stated.
As a part of the scheme, Furlow-Smiles linked PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App accounts to her Facebook bank cards and used these accounts to pay pals, family, and different associates for items and companies purportedly supplied to Facebook.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan, in a press release, stated that Furlow-Smiles had abused her place of belief at Facebook to “defraud the company of tens of millions of {dollars}, ignoring the insidious penalties of undermining the significance of her DEI mission.”
Meta supplied help and cooperation with the felony investigation, prosecutors stated.
Furlow-Smiles, who lives in Atlanta, is scheduled to be sentenced on March 19. She is free on a $5,000 bond.
A spokesperson for Meta, in a press release to CNBC, stated, “We are cooperating with legislation enforcement on the case concerning this former program supervisor, and we are going to proceed to accomplish that.”
Lance Clarke, a lawyer for Furlow-Smiles, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.