Atlanta Hawks executive accused of fraud, embezzlement of $3.8 million from the franchise

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia filed an indictment against Lester Jones, former senior vice president of financial planning and analysis for the Atlanta Hawks, charging him with fraud and embezzlement of $3.8 million from the franchise.

The indictment was unsealed last week and has been seen by The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov and Joe Vardon. Jones himself pleaded not guilty and was released on bail, pending trial.

Some of the evidence against Jones came from an audit conducted by the Hawks themselves. The Hawks have not commented publicly on the allegation. From Atletico:

Jones used his position with the Hawks to build a luxurious lifestyle, prosecutors allege. He controlled the team’s American Express card account and had the ability to authorize charges, according to prosecutors, authorized multiple company cards for himself and had the ability to debit amounts for others.

He reportedly used that power to spend on trips to the Bahamas, Hawaii, Thailand, Switzerland and other countries; paid for a Porsche; and bought tickets to concerts and other events. He now faces a federal wire fraud charge.

Prosecutors allege Jones went to great lengths to cover his expenses. They say he altered financial reports to hide his use of company cards, that he falsified emails to make his transactions appear legitimate and that he diverted his personal spending on those cards to the Hawks team’s operations.

This case will now proceed through the federal court system.