$4 million wire fraud/embezzlement guilty plea by Facebook/Meta DEI exec BARBARA FURLOW-SMILES. (Business Insider)

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Facebook/Meta Platforms DEI executive has waived indictment and pled guilty to wire fraud, stealing $4 million through kickbacks and fraud.  BARBARA FURLOW-SMILES is not smiling now. She will be sentenced on March 19, 2024 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

From Business Insider:

Paul Squire and Lloyd Lee

Barbara Furlow-Smiles, seen here in 2020, has pleaded guilty to embezzling funds from Facebook, now called Meta.

Robin L Marshall; Getty Images

• An ex-Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategist at Facebook has pleaded guilty to embezzling millions from the company.
• Barbara Furlow-Smiles ran DEI initiatives at Facebook from 2017 to 2021, according to prosecutors.
• Federal prosecutors say she recruited former interns, babysitters, and a hair stylist for her kickback scheme.

• A former top Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion manager at Facebookhas pleaded guilty to embezzling millions from the social media company as part of a sprawling kickback scheme, federal prosecutors announced this week.

  Barbara Furlow-Smiles led DEI initiatives at Facebook — now called Meta — from 2017 to 2021, according to the US Attorney's Office in Georgia.

  Furlow-Smiles diverted more than $4 million from Facebook by linking payment apps to her Facebook credit card and paying out charges to fake vendors, the US Attorney said in a press release on Tuesday.

  She "knowingly devised and intended to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud Facebook … and to obtain money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, and by omission of material facts," prosecutors said in court documents viewed by Business Insider.

  She'd submit the charges as false expense reports, then have the "vendors" give her the money in cash or by transferring funds to her husband's account.

  "Associates paid cash kickbacks in person and by Federal Express or mail, sometimes wrapping the cash in other items, such as T-shirts," the attorneys said in their press release.

  "We are cooperating with law enforcement on the case regarding this former program manager, and we will continue to do so," a Meta spokesperson said in an email to Business Insider.

  Furlow-Smiles' attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.

  Prosecutors said in court documents that Furlow-Smiles used her position at Facebook to bring in vendors who were owned by friends and associates. Once Facebook signed off to onboarding them, Furlow-Smiles would inflate the expense reports to make extra money she had the vendors send back to her, prosecutors said.
  
  "In these reports, she falsely claimed that her associates or their businesses provided goods and services to Facebook for various programs and events, when in fact they had not," prosecutors said.

  Among those involved in her scheme were relatives, friends, former interns from a previous job, "nannies and babysitters," a hair stylist, and her college tutor, prosecutors said.

  Furlow-Smiles used the fraud to pay $10,000 to an artist for specialty portraits and more than $18,000 for preschool tuition. 

  "This defendant 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," said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. "Motivated by greed, she used her time to orchestrate an elaborate criminal scheme in which fraudulent vendors paid her kickbacks in cash. 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."

  Furlow-Smiles is scheduled to be sentenced in March 2024, prosecutors said.

  
  

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA ATLANTA DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
V. Criminal Information

BARBARA FURLOW-SMILES No. 1:23-CR-0389 A/K/A BARBARA FURLOW

THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY CHARGES THAT:

Count One (Wire Fraud)

1. Beginning on a date unknown, but from at least in or about January 2017,

and continuing through in or about September 2021, in the Northern District of

Georgia and elsewhere, the defendant, BARBARA FURLOW-SMILES a/k/a

Barbara Furlow, knowingly devised and intended to devise a scheme and artifice

to defraud Facebook, Inc., now known as Meta Platforms, Inc., and to obtain

money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses,

representations, and promises, and by omission of material facts, well knowing

and having reason to know that the pretenses, representations, and promises

were and would be false and fraudulent when made and caused to be made and that the omissions were and would be material.

Background At times relevant to this Information:

Case 1:23-cr-00389-SDG Document 1 Filed 12/11/23 Page 2 of 6

  

2. Facebook, Inc., was an American multinational technology company based in Menlo Park, California. In or about October 2021, Facebook, Inc. changed its company name to Meta Platforms, Inc., doing business as Meta. Meta owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, among other products and services. Facebook is an online social media and social networking service, which can be accessed using the Internet. Meta is one of the largest technology companies in the United States.

3. Defendant FURLOW-SMILES was the Lead Strategist, Global Head of Employee Resource Groups and Diversity Engagement at Facebook, Inc., hereinafter referred to as Facebook. She led Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs at Facebook and was responsible for developing and executing DEI initiatives, operations, and engagement programs.

4. In her position as a program manager, defendant FURLOW-SMILES was given company credit cards that were supposed to be used only for legitimate corporate expenses, such as paying vendors to provide goods and services for diversity events. She also had the authority to submit purchase requisitions and approve invoices for authorized vendors of Facebook.

Scheme to Defraud
5. Defendant FURLOW-SMILES used her position at Facebook to steal more

than $4 million from the company. She caused Facebook to pay numerous

individuals for goods and services that were not provided to the company and

then had those individuals kick back fraudulent proceeds to her, often in cash.

6. In furtherance of her scheme, defendant FURLOW-SMILES linked PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App accounts to the credit cards that Facebook provided her for work-related expenses. Using these accounts, she paid friends, relatives, and other associates for goods and services purportedly provided to Facebook, when in fact the good and services were never provided. These transactions resulted in fraudulent charges on her Facebook credit cards. Most of these individuals did not know that the payments they received came from Facebook.

7. To conceal her scheme, defendant FURLOW-SMILES submitted fraudulent expense reports to Facebook in support of the bogus credit card charges. In these reports, she falsely claimed that her associates or their businesses provided goods and services to Facebook for various programs and events, when in fact they had not.

8. After her associates received payments from Facebook, they kicked back

the vast majority of the money to defendant FURLOW-SMILES. The associates

paid these kickbacks in cash and through transfers to accounts held in her

husband's and others' names. Associates paid the cash kickbacks in person and

by Federal Express or mail, sometimes wrapping the cash in other items, such as

T-shirts. Defendant FURLOW-SMILES also directed associates to pay each other, or others to whom she owed money, to conceal her involvement in the scheme.

9. Defendant FURLOW-SMILES recruited numerous individuals to receive money and pay kickbacks as part of the scheme. These individuals included friends, relatives, former interns from a prior job, nannies and babysitters, a hair stylist, and her university tutor. She also caused Facebook to make payments for her benefit to others who did not pay kickbacks. For example, defendant FURLOW-SMILES caused Facebook to pay nearly $10,000 to an artist for specialty portraits and more than $18,000 to a preschool for tuition.

10. In addition to using her corporate credit cards to obtain fraudulent proceeds, in furtherance of her scheme, defendant FURLOW-SMILES also caused Facebook to onboard several vendors that were owned and operated by friends and associates who paid her kickbacks.

11. After Facebook approved contracts for these vendors, defendant FURLOW-SMILES approved purchase requisitions for the vendors purportedly to order goods and services from them on behalf of Facebook. Once she approved the requisitions, Facebook generated purchase orders for the vendors.

12. Defendant FURLOW-SMILES then approved fraudulent and inflated invoices to charge against the purchase orders. Facebook paid the invoices once she approved them. After payment, defendant FURLOW-SMILES directed the vendors to return a portion of the money they had received to her. These kickbacks were paid in cash, in transfers to accounts held in her husband's name, and in transfers to others associated with defendant FURLOW-SMILES.

13. In total, defendant FURLOW-SMILES stole more than $4 million from Facebook based on fictitious charges and fraudulent invoices for which goods and services were not provided to Facebook. She used the money to live a luxury lifestyle that she otherwise could not have afforded but for the illicit proceeds of her fraud scheme.

Execution of the Scheme to Defraud
14. To execute this scheme to defraud, defendant FURLOW-SMILES caused the transmission of interstate wire communications. Among other executions of the scheme, on or about July 30, 2021, in the Northern District of Georgia and elsewhere, defendant FURLOW-SMILES, for the purpose of executing and attempting to execute the scheme and artifice to defraud, and to obtain money and property by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises, and omissions, with the intent to defraud, did cause to be transmitted by means of a wire communication in interstate commerce certain writings, signs, signals, pictures, and sounds; that is, defendant FURLOW-SMILES paid an individual through PayPal, which was charged to her Facebook credit card, in the approximate amount of $14,406.30, causing an interstate wire transmission.

All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

Forfeiture Provision

15. As a result of committing the wire fraud offense alleged in this Criminal Information, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, the defendant, BARBARA FURLOW-SMILES a/k/a Barbara Furlow, shall forfeit to the United States all property, real and personal, which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to such offense, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code,

Section 981(a)(l)(C), and Title 28, United States Code, Section 2461(c).

16. If, as a result of any act or omission of defendant FURLOW-SMILES, property subject to forfeiture

(a) cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence;

(b) has been transferred to, sold to, or deposited with, a third party;

(c) hasbeenplacedbeyondthejurisdictionoftheCourt;

(d) has been substantially diminished in value; or

(e) hasbeencommingledwithotherproperty,whichcannotbedivided

without difficulty,
the United States intends, pursuant to Title 21, United States Code, Section 853(p), as incorporated by Title 18, United States Code, Section 982(b), to seek forfeiture of other property of the defendant up to the value of the forfeitable property described above.

RYAN K. BUCHANAN

United States Attorney

600 U.S. Courthouse

75 Ted Turner Drive SW Atlanta, GA 30303 404-581-6000;Fax:404-581-6181