A senior vice president of the Atlanta Hawks has been indicted and charged with embezzling $3.8 million from the NBA franchise as part of what authorities in Georgia are saying was a yearslong scheme, according to a report in The Athletic.
Lester Jones, 46, had been part of the Hawks finance department for nearly a decade before a team-backed audit uncovered evidence of his alleged crimes, the report said.
The Hawks and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia declined to comment.
Jones, who is no longer employed by the Hawks, pleaded not guilty last week and was released on $10,000 bond, The Athletic reported.
Among the allegations in the indictment, Jones had the team pay off his American Express credit card balance of nearly $230,000 last January, claiming it was for a stay at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. However, prosecutors said there was no bill from the hotel.
Also, Jones allegedly used some of the money he was stealing from the team to buy expensive gifts for another now-former Hawks employee whom he was dating.
It was all part of a scheme, prosecutors allege, in which Jones used his position as senior vice president of financial planning and analysis to authorize charges on multiple corporate credit cards for himself and others. Prosecutors say he used his power to pay for a luxury car, concert tickets and trips to the Bahamas, Hawaii, Thailand, Switzerland and other countries.
Jones is also charged with federal wire fraud for allegedly faking emails and altering reports to cover his activities.