Brice E. Anderson and Terrance Lockett have admitted to conspiring with Barbara Furlow-Smiles, a former diversity program manager at Facebook, in a scheme that defrauded the company of significant sums. The case involved fraudulent vendors, false invoices, and cash kickbacks.
“These defendants conspired with a DEI executive at Facebook to steal significant sums from the company, based on false claims that they had worked on various DEI projects,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “Instead, the defendants did little to no work, paid kickbacks to the Facebook executive, and lined their pockets with stolen money. They are now being held accountable for their brazen fraud.”
“Furlow-Smiles created a complex web of lies, all for her personal gain. Anderson and Lockett joined in this fraud for their own excessive greed,” said FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown. “The FBI remains steadfast in our commitment to root out financial fraud.”
Court documents show that Furlow-Smiles served as Lead Strategist and Global Head of Employee Resource Groups and Diversity Engagement at Facebook (now Meta Platforms, Inc.), overseeing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs from January 2017 to September 2021. She later held a similar role at Nike. In both companies she had access to corporate credit cards and could approve payments for vendors.
According to authorities, Furlow-Smiles exploited her roles by arranging payments from Facebook and Nike to friends and associates for services never rendered. Those individuals then returned much of the money to her through kickbacks.
Anderson owned Titan Branding LLC and worked with Furlow-Smiles to obtain nearly $1.2 million from Facebook by billing for nonexistent work related to DEI initiatives such as Juneteenth events. Payments were made using fraudulent invoices approved by Furlow-Smiles; after receiving funds from Facebook, Anderson sent large amounts back to her through various methods including cash wrapped in clothing items shipped via FedEx or delivered in person.
Lockett hosted the “Officially Outed Podcast” and owned Officially Outed Media. He also received payments from Facebook for services not provided under similar arrangements orchestrated by Furlow-Smiles. In total, over $243,000 was taken through this scheme; Lockett returned a substantial portion of these proceeds as kickbacks.
On November 13, 2025, Anderson pleaded guilty in federal court; his sentencing is scheduled for March 9, 2026 before Judge Steven D. Grimberg. Lockett pleaded guilty on November 5, 2025; he will be sentenced February 18, 2026 before Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr.
Furlow-Smiles previously pleaded guilty after stealing more than $5 million across both companies’ schemes. She was sentenced on May 13, 2024 to five years and three months in prison plus supervised release; restitution totaling over $5 million was ordered.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation into these cases.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen H. McClain and Bernita B. Malloy are prosecuting.
For further information contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016; more details can be found at http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.