A 38-year-old woman from Marietta, Georgia, previously employed as a diversity program manager at prominent companies like Facebook and Nike, has been convicted and sentenced to five years and three months in prison. The sentence comes as a result of the individual’s involvement in a sophisticated scheme that led to the misappropriation of over $5 million through fraudulent vendors, forged documents, and under-the-table cash kickbacks. The case sheds light on the importance of trust, transparency, and accountability in corporate environments, emphasizing the need for robust internal controls and ethical practices to prevent such breaches of trust.
The 38-year-old served as Lead Strategist, Global Head of Employee Resource Groups and Diversity Engagement at Facebook, Inc., now known as Meta Platforms, Inc., doing business as Meta. She had access to the company’s credit cards as well as the authority to submit purchase requisitions and approve invoices for authorized vendors of Facebook.
The former diversity program manager used her position at Facebook to cheat and defraud the company. She linked PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App accounts to her Facebook credit cards and used those accounts to pay friends, relatives, and other associates for goods and services that were never provided to Facebook. Once these individuals received the payments for these fictitious charges, they would return the majority of the money directly back to her.
According to Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, after the 38-year-old was fired from Facebook, the former diversity program manager continued her fraudulent schemes at Nike. “She not only threw away a lucrative career but will serve time behind bars for her excessive greed.”
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Prevent This From Happening TO YOU!
Vendor fraud schemes can be tricky to catch as they come in various forms, though they all relate to the procurement process. Below are a few measures your company can take to help prevent vendor fraud:
- Regular vendor information verification: If there are any missing documents, get in touch with your vendor to investigate.
- KYS (Know Your Supplier) due diligence during the onboarding process is crucial to minimize fraud.
- Invoice matching: There are two-way, three-way, and four-way matching methods according to which types of documents are involved in the invoice matching process.
- Separation of responsibilities and regular rotations: As doing business with vendors requires both the entrance of the purchase information into the system and the approval of the transaction, carefully segregating these duties among different employees can minimize employee misconduct.
For the full list of measures your company can take click here.
Source: AIMultiple Research: https://research.aimultiple.com/vendor-fraud/
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