Brady Lum, former chief operating officer at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, pleaded guilty on Monday to a federal charge of theft. Lum “pilfered more than $600,000 from the museum by doctoring invoices and approving transactions for personal purchases,” says an announcement from the Justice Department.
“Over several years, Lum deceptively plundered the southeast’s premier museum of visual art, embezzling more than half a million dollars,” said US Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg in the announcement. “Criminals like Lum who steal from institutions that receive taxpayer money to serve the public will face prison time for their thievery and be compelled to repay their ill-gotten gains.”
Lum served in his post from 2019 until he resigned amid a probe in 2025, and was responsible for overseeing the museum’s operational and financial activities. He repeatedly purchased non-business items and services for himself, says the Justice Department, including an expensive guitar and other musical equipment, personal music lessons, and woodworking equipment.
To cover up his theft, Lum submitted altered invoices, used his position to approve expenses, and used “accounting adjustments to spread his expenses across different cost centers so that they would not be readily identified,” says the Department. For example, he submitted more than $9,000 in costs for a guitar and related accessories but made the invoice look as though it pertained to purchases for the institution’s benefit. Lum received more than 700 reimbursements, most of them for less than $1,000, says the Justice Department.
“As he admitted in court, Brady Lum breached the trust of his organization and undermined the integrity of the museum,” said Marlo Graham, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI remains unwavering in its pursuit to hold accountable those who exploit their positions for selfish purposes.”
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 2. As part of a plea agreement, Lum will pay full restitution to the museum.
Located on Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta, the High Museum is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeast and is a division of the Richard Meier–designed Woodruff Arts Center, which also includes the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Alliance Theatre. Its collection includes more than 20,300 artworks and spans areas including African art, American art, European art, and modern and contemporary art. In fiscal year 2025, the museum reported some $30.8 million in revenues, up from just shy of $30 million the year previous, and net assets without donor restrictions of $11.2 million, up from just less than $11 million.
