On November 4th, The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov and Joe Vardon jointly reported that in January of last year, a Hawks financial executive sent a seemingly routine request to the team's accounting department, demanding payment of $229,968.76 for a previous stay at a Las Vegas hotel.
The Hawks had played an NBA Cup game there, advancing to the semifinals. Lester Jones, the team's senior vice president of financial planning and analytics, hoped the bill would be paid, and a team accountant complied.
However, federal prosecutors claim the Hawks did not stay at that hotel and had no such bill. This was reportedly part of a years-long scheme by Lester Jones to embezzle funds from the Hawks' finance department.
Lester Jones, 46, has been indicted by U.S. prosecutors, charged with fraud and misappropriating $3.8 million from an NBA team.
However, Lester Jones maintains his innocence and was released on $10,000 bail. He no longer works for the Hawks.
It has been reported that Lester Jones had a romantic relationship with another female Hawks employee. Multiple sources indicate that some of the funds allegedly stolen by Jones were used to buy her expensive gifts, but the woman is unreachable and no longer works for the Hawks.
In addition, Jones reportedly used the stolen funds to purchase a Porsche and pay for tickets to concerts and other events.
Prosecutors allege that Jones went to extreme lengths to conceal his spending. They say he falsified financial reports to hide his use of company credit cards, forged emails to make his transactions appear legitimate, and diverted his personal spending on these cards to Hawks operating expenses.
