Ex-Hawks employee allegedly embezzled $3.8 million…
A former Hawks senior government is dealing with embezzlement prices after federal prosecutors allege he ran a years-long scheme to bamboozle the NBA franchise that employed him.
Lester Jones was charged with fraud and embezzling $3.8 million from the Hawks after a team-backed audit discovered evidence of his shady dealings, The Athletic reported.
Federal prosecutors introduced an indictment against Jones last week. He pleaded not guilty to the costs before being launched on $10,000 bond.
A former Hawks staffer allegedly embezzled hundreds of thousands of {dollars}. Getty Images
Jones had labored for the group’s finance division for practically a decade, and prosecutors allege he used his position with the Hawks to create a lavish lifestyle on the dime of the NBA staff.
Jones managed the Hawks’ American Express card account and allegedly approved a number of company playing cards for his own use.
Among the alleged situations that Jones swindled the group, prosecutors claimed he had the Hawks repay an American Express credit card invoice of $229,968.76 last January, telling the staff it was for a keep at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.
Except, it’s alleged, that there was no invoice from the Wynn Hotel.
Jones, now a former employee, is also alleged to have spent some of the money he’s accused of taking from the staff to buy costly items for a separate — and also former — Hawks employee that he was seeing at the time, The Athletic reported.
And as half of his scheme, prosecutors allege that he used his place to pay for a Porsche, journeys to the Bahamas, Hawaii, Thailand, Switzerland — among other places — and live performance tickets.
An exterior view Wynn hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., February 7, 2018. REUTERS
In order to cowl his tracks, Jones allegedly faked emails and altered stories.
The Hawks and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia declined to remark to The Athletic, and an attorney for the ex-Hawks exec didn’t return a request for remark from the outlet.
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