Former High Museum COO Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Siphoning $600,000 to Buy Guitars

A federal judge sentenced the former chief operating officer of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta to one year in prison and one year of supervised release for stealing more than $600,000 from the museum.

Brady Lum, 60, served as the High Museum’s COO from January 2019 until December 2025, when he resigned. He began siphoning money from the museum in September 2019, around nine months into the job, until November 2025, when it was discovered.

Lum’s theft involved the purchase of “non-business items and services for himself, including expensive guitars and other music equipment, personal music lessons, and woodworking equipment, through direct supplier invoicing and the High Museum’s corporate credit card reimbursement process,” according to a press release from the Office of US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, which prosecuted the case.

The release adds that Lum concealed the theft by “submitting altered invoices, using his position to approve expenses, and using accounting adjustments to spread his expenses across different cost centers.”

“Lum brazenly pilfered hundreds of thousands of dollars from a beloved civic institution to pay for his high-end guitars and other personal items. His appalling breach of trust damaged not only the High Museum but also the larger art community,” US Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement.

Prior to the sentencing on Monday, Lum had paid in full the $607,688.18 he had taken as part of his plea deal, which was announced in July. He also voluntarily paid the High Museum $500,000 to cover its investigative expenses and legal fees.

“Lum repaid the High Museum by covering its losses and expenses, and now he will pay his debt to society from prison,” Hertzberg added.

A request for comment from the High Museum was not immediately returned.