Atlanta Hawks ex-executive accused of stealing millions from team for personal expenses

ATLANTA (AP) — A former finance executive for the Atlanta Hawks has been accused of stealing millions of dollars from the NBA team and using the money to pay for travel, luxury apparel, jewelry, car expenses and tickets to concerts and sporting events, federal prosecutors said in a court filing.

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.