Ex-Facebook Executive Pleads Guilty to $4 Million Fraud Scheme

December 12, 2023, 9:54 PM UTC

A former global diversity executive at Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms, Inc., has pleaded guilty to stealing over $4 million from the company through an elaborate scheme, according to the Justice Department Tuesday.

While employed at Meta between January 2017 and September 2021, Barbara Furlow-Smiles caused the company to pay individuals for goods and services that were never actually provided. These individuals then paid kickbacks to Furlow-Smiles in return, said DOJ.

She also caused the company to make payments to others who didn’t pay kickbacks, including paying almost $10,000 to an artist for specialty portraits and over $18,000 ...

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