ATLANTA — A former Atlanta Hawks senior executive is accused of embezzling over $3.8 million on international trips, a Porsche and tickets.
Federal court documents have charged Lester Jones, who worked for the Hawks as Senior Vice President of Finance, with felony wire fraud. The Athletic first reported the charges against Jones.
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Jones worked for the Hawks from March 2016 until June 2025. The indictment accuses the former executive of scheming to defraud the Hawks through “false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.”
Fans told Channel 2’s Audrey Washington they were shocked and disappointed by the charges.
“That’s a lot of money!” one fan said before Tuesday’s game.
As a senior finance executive, prosecutors said Jones had access to multiple American Express credit cards and could authorize charges to cards for other Hawks employees.
Investigators say Jones would submit fake expense reimbursement requests and alter invoices for business expenses that didn’t exist.
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The fraudulent charges included trips to the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Switzerland and Thailand. Jones also allegedly spent money on Louis Vuitton apparel, jewelry, tickets for concerts and sporting events and Porsche car expenses.
With the trip to Vegas, the indictment claims that Jones tried to submit an invoice for nearly $230,000 at the Wynn Hotel back in January when the Hawks played in the NBA Emirates Cup.
Prosecutors said the bill didn’t exist and that Jones had altered a form that another Hawks employee filled out.
A federal judge granted Jones a $10,000 bond with a set of conditions, including surrendering his passport to the U.S. Probation Office.
Channel 2 Action News has reached out to the Atlanta Hawks, which declined to comment. We have also reached out to Jones’ defense attorney for a statement.
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