Posted on 12/13/2023 11:48:42 AM PST by thegagline
A former Facebook diversity program manager pleaded guilty to scamming the social media giant out of more than $4 million through a scheme in which she faked business deals in exchange for kickbacks, the Justice Department said.
Barbara Furlow-Smiles, who served as lead strategist and global head of employee resource groups and diversity engagement at Facebook, used the stolen funds to live an extravagant lifestyle that spanned from California to Georgia, prosecutors said.
From approximately January 2017 to September 2021, Furlow-Smiles led Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs at Facebook and was responsible for developing and executing DEI initiatives, operations, and engagement programs,” according to the DOJ.
The feds said Furlow-Smiles, who had access to company credit cards and the ability to approve invoices as part of her role at the company, “caused Facebook to pay numerous individuals,” including her friends and relatives, “for goods and services never provided to the company.”
Those individuals would later funnel kickbacks to Furlow-Smiles.
***
To avoid scrutiny, Furlow-Smiles would submit fake expense reports claiming that the individuals were vendors at Facebook events who had helped with marketing or provided merchandise.
Furlow-Smiles “abused a position of a trust as a global diversity executive for Facebook to defraud the company of millions of dollars, ignoring the insidious consequences of undermining the importance of her DEI mission,” US Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a statement after she pleaded guilty in a Georgia court Tuesday.
“Motivated by greed, she used her time to orchestrate an elaborate criminal scheme in which fraudulent vendors paid her kickbacks in cash,” Buchanan added. “She even involved relatives, friends, and other associates in her crimes, all to fund a lavish lifestyle through fraud rather than hard and honest work.” ***
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Racist to go after her for entrepreurialism. Celebrate unmerited hires.
The diversity scam and the green scam , pay well if you never get caught
The real story is that nobody at Facebook dared to supervise or question her actions.
They knew that merely questioning an expense would have her go nuclear on them.
she’s Facebook Rich...
Facebook deserves this woman and what she did. Suck it up buttercups at Facebook—own it!
Can’t blame Elon - he bought Twit in Oct 2022 and cleaned house.
Or tried to ...
You mean private citizens can’t adopt the Standard Operating Practices of Congress???
not guilty, were not paying her enough?
It’s THEM again, Boo-Boo.
It sounds like facebook is racist for even bringing it up...just sayin’. They wouldn’t do this to a white person that stole 4 million, would they?
She can’t be the only one arrested right?
They get a ridiculous no-show type job. This goes to her head. So she steals 4 million from Facebook and blows it on crap. A "friend" dropped a dime on her. (My guess) Or she would still be stealing from Facebook.
Barbara Furlow-Smiles pictured at a Facebook DEI event in 2018.---
Whitey made me do it yeah that’s the ticket.
These DEI jobs were created to give otherwise unskilled Shaniquas a corporate position so that companies could have a "front office that looks like America."
I almost shouldn't blame Facebook. They're practically forced to hire these people. Have you ever seen a white male holding the DEI spot? Is that even allowed? LOL!
They're ruining companies.
Anytime you here of some formerly politically-neutral, all-American enterprise like NASCAR or NHL promoting some divisive, politically-charged scheme that only angers and alienates their fanbase, you can bet there's a "DEI Officer" behind it.
Companies never asked for these people. They felt compelled to hire them for no other reason than to diversify their front office.
It’s BS this position exists, then for a person to steal, when hired into a do-nothing position, simply because of the color of skin and gender; wow.
What are the odds that she is the only one doing this?
Would not be surprised to hear some wokesters say that she is/was a victim of the company and the lax controls.
Did she report all the illegal income on her income tax returns?
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