Copyright New York Post
A former Hawks senior executive is facing embezzlement charges 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 found evidence of his shady dealings, The Athletic reported. Federal prosecutors brought an indictment against Jones last week. He pleaded not guilty to the charges before being released on $10,000 bond. Jones had worked for the organization’s finance department for nearly a decade, and prosecutors allege he used his role with the Hawks to create a lavish lifestyle on the dime of the NBA team. Jones controlled the Hawks’ American Express card account and allegedly authorized several corporate cards for his own use. Among the alleged instances that Jones swindled the organization, prosecutors claimed he had the Hawks pay off an American Express credit card bill of $229,968.76 last January, telling the team it was for a stay at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. Except, it is alleged, that there was no bill from the Wynn Hotel. Jones, now a former employee, is also alleged to have spent some of the money he is accused of taking from the team to buy expensive gifts for a separate — and also former — Hawks employee that he was seeing at the time, The Athletic reported. And as part of his scheme, prosecutors allege that he used his position to pay for a Porsche, trips to the Bahamas, Hawaii, Thailand, Switzerland — among other locations — and concert tickets. In order to cover his tracks, Jones allegedly faked emails and altered reports. The Hawks and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia declined to comment to The Athletic, and an attorney for the ex-Hawks exec did not return a request for comment from the outlet.
