Facebook’s former diversity program manager has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $4 million from the company through fake business deals in exchange for kickbacks to fund a luxurious lifestyle, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Barbara Furlow-Smiles, 38, served as the lead strategist, global head of employee resource groups and diversity engagement at the social media giant while she orchestrated the scheme, the Justice Department said. From January 2017 through September 2021, she led Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs at Facebook and was responsible for developing and executing DEI initiatives, operations, and engagement programs.
“Furlow-Smiles used lies and deceit to defraud both vendors and Facebook employees,” said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Atlanta office. “The FBI works hard to make sure greed like this doesn’t pay off and those who commit fraud are held accountable.”
Furlow-Smiles committed the fraud by linking PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App accounts to credit cards given to her by Facebook and used those accounts to pay friends, relatives, former interns at a prior job, nannies, babysitters, a hairstylist and others for goods and services that were never provided to the company, a federal complaint states.
I can’t even say anything nice about fake book. The founder who paid $400 million to rig the 2020 presidential election to a platform that is ruining teenage girls, it’s a POS.
Delusions of Adequacy 