High Museum ex-COO sentenced to a year in federal prison after $600,000 embezzlement

Brady Lum, 60, will serve twelve months in federal prison following a sentence handed down Monday by U.S. District Judge Michael L. Brown. The former chief operating officer of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta was convicted of embezzling more than $600,000 from the institution over a six-year span. The sentence includes one year of supervised release after his release.

Lum returned $607,688.18 in full restitution to the museum before the sentencing. He also paid an additional $500,000 to cover legal fees and investigative costs associated with the internal inquiry. Federal prosecutors stated that Lum began diverting funds in September 2019, less than nine months after joining the museum as COO. The scheme remained active until investigators uncovered the activity in November 2025. Lum resigned from his position on December 9, 2025.

Court filings indicate Lum used his administrative authority and corporate credit cards to purchase personal items. The expenditures included luxury guitars, music equipment, private music lessons, woodworking tools, and machinery. To hide the spending, Lum submitted falsified invoices and approved his own expenditures using delegated authority. He also shifted charges across different departmental cost centers to prevent detection by internal auditors.

Marlo Graham, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, stated that Lum manipulated internal processes to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars. U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg noted that while the repayment of funds and expenses was complete, prison time served as necessary accountability for the breach of civic trust. Lum previously held leadership roles at The Coca-Cola Company and Special Olympics International before his tenure at the High Museum.

The financial impact on the museum included the initial loss of over $600,000 in operating capital and the subsequent cost of the internal investigation. The total amount returned to the organization exceeded $1.1 million. The case highlights the intersection of executive authority and internal financial controls within a major cultural nonprofit.

The federal government has completed the prosecution and sentencing phases of the case. Lum is scheduled to report to federal custody to begin serving his term. The museum has fully recovered the monetary losses and associated costs incurred during the fraud scheme.