The Atlanta Hawks are in the thick of things in their first-round series against the Knicks, but it appears that a silent adversary has been inflicting damage on them for years.
This week, it was reported that former Hawks finance executive Lester T. Jones Jr. will be serving three years and months in prison for embezzling the team’s funds. According to federal prosecutors, Jones used $3.7 million of the Hawks’ money to pay for a number of luxuries, including international trips and upmarket purchases.
Jones began working in the Atlanta Hawks’ accounting and finance department back in 2016. Five years later, he was promoted to senior vice president for finance, a role that put him in charge of the Hawks’ corporate credit card account.
Some of the purchases he made with embezzled funds include upmarket items at Saks Fifth Avenue ($99,800), multiple Omega watches ($21,888.90), and a diamond ring ($115,795.01).
Jones, 46, was also said to have used embezzled money to finance his personal trips to Thailand and the Bahamas. In total, these overseas trips ran up to $80,000.
Prosecutors added that Jones carried out his scheme by sending bogus expense reimbursement requests, which led to reimbursements from an unwitting Hawks organization.
Content Creator Reacts to News of Hawks Embezzlement by Posting Image of Towels Prior to Home Game
Making fun of the situation that unfolded with Jones, content creator Travis Mangone decided to tie it back to the Hawks’ first-round series against the Knicks.
Mangone shared an image of free towels draped on the seats of State Farm Arena prior to a home game in this series. He then implied that the choice of towels over shirts had something to do with the fact that Jones had embezzled millions from the team’s coffers.
“If you’re wondering why the Atlanta Hawks had towels over shirts…”
The Knicks-Hawks series will swing back to Atlanta, and it will be interesting to see if fans will be waving towels as their team tries to avoid elimination in Game 6.
