Barbara Furlow-Smiles, a former diversity program manager for Facebook and Nike, was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing over $5 million from the companies to support her luxury lifestyle. She set up fake business deals, invoices, and events to steal the money, and pleaded guilty to a wire fraud scheme that included taking more than $4.9 million from Facebook and a six-figure sum from Nike. She used her position at both companies to approve invoices for unauthorized vendors and pay individuals for goods and services that were never provided to the companies, funneling kickbacks back to herself.
During her time at Facebook, Furlow-Smiles manipulated the system to make payments to her friends and relatives, including former interns, a university tutor, a hair stylist, babysitters, and nannies. These individuals would then return the money to her, often in cash or via account transfer, without knowing that the funds were coming from Facebook. She also misled the company into sending money to entities that did not provide kickbacks, using fake expense reports to cover her tracks. The scheme continued even after she was fired from Facebook, as she moved to Nike and repeated the process.
At Nike, Furlow-Smiles was the senior director of DEI and had a primary responsibility to organize a Juneteenth event in New York. She used the same fraudulent tactics she had employed at Facebook, paying her associates with her Nike corporate card and receiving kickbacks, before submitting a counterfeit expense report claiming the payments were for the Juneteenth event. In total, she stole over $5 million from both companies, leading to anguish among employees and disappointment from company executives.
Furlow-Smiles’ crimes caused anguish among employees at Facebook who worked closely with her, and Nike expressed disappointment at her lack of accountability or remorse. She was sentenced to five years and three months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay back the stolen funds. Her actions not only led to financial losses for the companies but also ultimately cost her a lucrative career and landed her behind bars for her excessive greed.
The Justice Department described Furlow-Smiles’ actions as a shameless violation of trust as a DEI executive, using fraudulent schemes and kickbacks to steal millions of dollars. She continued the fraud even after being terminated from Facebook, moving on to Nike and stealing another six-figure sum. This behavior ultimately led to her downfall and imprisonment, highlighting the consequences of greed and dishonesty in the workplace.
Both Facebook and Nike did not respond to requests for comment on the case. Furlow-Smiles’ actions serve as a cautionary tale about the importance of integrity, accountability, and ethical behavior in the workplace. Her sentence and the restitution she has been ordered to pay underscore the serious consequences of financial fraud and deception, particularly in high-level positions of trust within major corporations.
