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Ex-Facebook Diversity Manager Pleads GUILTY To Scamming the Company Out of $4 Million


The former diversity manager of Facebook has just plead guilty to scamming the social media company out of a whopping $4 MILLION!

Barbara Furlow-Smiles raked in millions from a scheme in which she faked business deals in exchange for kickbacks. She used the stolen money to live a lavish lifestyle while serving as the head of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs at Facebook from 2017-2021.

Take a look:

The New York Post has more details on the scam:

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.

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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.

The Post Millenial also reported:

A former Facebook diversity program manager entered a guilty plea to defrauding the social media company of over $4 million through a criminal scheme in which she pretended to be conducting business in exchange for kickbacks.

Barbara Furlow-Smiles, who was the global diversity executive for Facebook, has been accused by the Department of Justice of defrauding the company to fund a lavish lifestyle spanning from Georgia to California, the New York Post reports.

“Motivated by greed, she used her time to orchestrate an elaborate criminal scheme in which fraudulent vendors paid her kickbacks in cash,” US Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said. “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.”

The DOJ said that Furlow-Smiles “caused Facebook to pay numerous individuals for goods and services never provided to the company.” Those individuals included her friends and relatives who would then funnel kickbacks to Furlow-Smiles.

Furlow-Smiles was able to carry out the scheme because she had access to company credit cards and her role at the company also included approving invoices, according to prosecutors.

Are you surprised? Or is this just the type of thing you’d expect from a so-called “diversity manager”?

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