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In the filing last week, prosecutors charged Lester T. Jones Jr.
with a single count of wire fraud, saying he arranged for the
Hawks to pay American Express nearly $230,000 for “fraudulently
incurred personal expenses.” He is accused of altering an email
to make it look like the reimbursement request was for expenses
incurred at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas during the NBA Emirates
Cup, the filing says.
Jones also submitted dozens of other fraudulent expense
reimbursement requests, including fake and altered invoices, and
charged millions of dollars in personal expenses to corporate
credit cards, embezzling more than $3.8 million from the Hawks,
prosecutors allege. The expenses included travel to the Bahamas,
Costa Rica, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Switzerland
and Thailand, as well as Louis Vuitton apparel and Porsche car
expenses, the filing says.
Contact information for Jones could not be found. Email and
voicemail messages seeking comment were sent to a lawyer listed
for him in online court records. A spokesperson for the Hawks
declined to comment.
Jones pleaded not guilty during an initial court appearance on
Oct. 29 and was granted bond, according to court records. The
judge in the case on Friday ordered Jones to notify the court
within 15 days whether he plans to proceed to trial or enter a
guilty plea.
Jones worked in the Hawks' accounting and finance department
from March 2016 through June of this year, serving as senior
vice president for finance beginning in August 2021, the filing
says. In that role, he was responsible for the company's
corporate credit card account with American Express and
administered the electronic expense reimbursement program.
Prior to July 2024, actual transactions and expenses made on
employees' corporate American Express credit cards weren't
visible in the reimbursement program to company personnel who
verified expenses. Jones had insight into the program's
limitations and exploited them for personal gain, prosecutors
allege.
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