A former Nike music executive is facing a lengthy list of felony charges after prosecutors accused him of orchestrating a kickback scheme that siphoned more than $1 million from the sneaker giant through inflated payments to a music licensing firm run by a close associate.
Prosecutors allege that John Griffith, who worked as a music supervisor at Nike, funneled company funds toward a consulting firm operated by his friend Brad Mosher, paying fees far above what the services were actually worth.
Roughly half of those payments, prosecutors claim, were then routed back to Griffith through a shell company he controlled, effectively allowing him to pocket a cut of the inflated fees while Nike absorbed the cost.
In a court filing submitted this week, prosecutors described the arrangement in blunt terms, stating that Mosher and Griffith conspired to run a criminal enterprise designed to steal over a million dollars from Nike through a coordinated kickback operation.
Court records confirm that both men were indicted in May, each facing 24 separate felony counts that include racketeering, aggravated theft by deception, and money laundering. Griffith and Mosher were both taken into custody in early June before being released on bond shortly afterward. No trial date has been set yet in the case, leaving the timeline for further proceedings uncertain for now.
Nike spends billions annually on advertising and regularly relies on well-known songs to anchor its marketing campaigns. Music supervisors are responsible not just for selecting which songs appear in commercials, films, and television projects, but also for navigating the often complicated legal process of clearing those songs for use, a responsibility that gives them considerable authority over vendor relationships and payments.
Read more at
