A longtime Atlanta Hawks executive is accused of stealing more than $3.8 million from the NBA team over several years by submitting fake expenses and charging personal purchases to company credit cards, according to federal court documents.

Federal prosecutors charged Lester T. Jones Jr., the team’s former Senior Vice President of Finance, with one count of wire fraud. They say he carried out the scheme from at least May 2017 through June 2025 while working in the team’s accounting and finance department.

Jones, who joined the Hawks in 2016 and rose to become the most senior accounting executive in the company under the CFO, allegedly used his access to the team’s bank accounts, expense system, and corporate American Express cards to pocket team money.

According to prosecutors, Jones submitted or directed fraudulent expense reports, using fake or altered invoices to obtain reimbursement for costs that never existed. He’s also accused of charging millions in personal expenses to company credit cards, including luxury travel to the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Switzerland and Thailand, as well as purchases from Louis Vuitton, Porsche-related expenses, jewelry, and sports and concert tickets. Jones allegedly manipulated financial reports, doctored emails, and falsely attributed large credit card balances to team operations to cover up the scheme.

Federal documents say Jones also exploited a flaw in the Hawks’ expense reimbursement system that, before July 2024, did not show actual corporate credit card transactions to staff processing reimbursements.

One example outlined in the court filing involves a January 2025 incident where Jones allegedly submitted a fake $229,968 invoice for a team event at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. Prosecutors say no such event or charge ever happened. After forwarding an altered American Express email to colleagues, he approved the reimbursement himself and used it to pay off personal charges.

If convicted, Jones must forfeit any money or property tied to the alleged fraud, prosecutors said. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. 

CBS News Atlanta reached out to the Hawks organization, and they declined to comment.

More from CBS News