Brice E. Anderson and Terrance Lockett have admitted to working with Barbara Furlow-Smiles, a former diversity program manager at Facebook, to defraud the company through fraudulent vendor payments and 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.”
According to court records, Barbara Furlow-Smiles served as Lead Strategist and Global Head of Employee Resource Groups and Diversity Engagement at Facebook—now Meta Platforms—from January 2017 until September 2021. She was responsible for leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs at the company and later held a similar role at Nike. In both positions, she had access to corporate credit cards and could approve vendors.
Prosecutors say Furlow-Smiles used her authority at both companies to direct payments to friends, relatives, and associates for services that were never provided; those individuals then returned part of the funds back to her as kickbacks.
Anderson owned Titan Branding LLC. He conspired with Furlow-Smiles by submitting fake invoices totaling nearly $1.2 million for work not performed at Facebook events such as Juneteenth celebrations or other DEI projects. After receiving payment from Facebook, Anderson sent substantial portions back to Furlow-Smiles via cash or transfers—including sending cash concealed in items like T-shirts or hats by FedEx or delivering it directly during trips.
Lockett ran Officially Outed Media and hosted a podcast called “Officially Outed Podcast.” Using similar methods as Anderson’s scheme, he received over $243,000 from Facebook for services that were not rendered—such as marketing related to Global Pride Initiative projects—and then returned much of those funds as kickbacks.
On November 13, 2025, Brice E. Anderson pleaded guilty in federal court; his sentencing is set for March 9, 2026 before Judge Steven D. Grimberg. Terrance Lockett pleaded guilty on November 5; his sentencing is scheduled for February 18 before Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr.
Barbara Furlow-Smiles previously pleaded guilty after stealing more than $5 million through these schemes involving both Facebook and Nike. On May 13, 2024 she was sentenced by Judge Grimberg to five years and three months in prison followed by supervised release; she must also pay over $5 million in restitution split between both companies.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation led 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 on http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
