A former Facebook and Nike DEI manager got 5 years in prison for stealing $5 million to fund her luxury lifestyle

The sentence against Barbara Furlow-Smiles was announced on Monday by the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

"Furlow-Smiles shamelessly violated her position of trust as a DEI executive at Facebook to steal millions from the company utilizing a scheme involving fraudulent vendors, fake invoices, and cash kickbacks," US Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said.

Buchanan added: "After being terminated from Facebook, she brazenly continued the fraud as a DEI leader at Nike, where she stole another six-figure sum from their diversity program."

According to the attorney's office, Furlow-Smiles began her elaborate fraud while working as a diversity, equity, and inclusion executive at Facebook from 2017 to 2021.

In that role, she had access to the company's credit cards and the authority to make purchases and approve invoices for Facebook's vendors.