Former High Museum executive pleads guilty to embezzlement

The High Museum of Art’s former chief operating officer pleaded guilty Monday to a single felony theft charge, accused of stealing more than $600,000 from the organization while entrusted with its assets.

Brady Lum, 59, appeared in court before U.S. District Judge Michael Brown in Atlanta and pleaded guilty to theft from an entity that receives federal funds. He initially pleaded not guilty when arraigned in April.

“Guilty, your honor,” Lum told the judge when asked how he wanted to plead Monday.

Lum and his lawyer, Don Samuel, declined to comment outside the courtroom.

Lum is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 2. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine equivalent to twice the amount he stole as well as up to three years of supervised release. Lum could also be made to pay restitution to the High Museum and to forfeit any proceeds or property stemming from his crime.

He remains on the $10,000 bond he was granted in April, the conditions of which include seeking employment and staying in Georgia unless granted permission to leave.

The guilty plea was part of a deal with federal prosecutors, who are recommending a “low” sentence.

Brown said he’s not bound by the plea agreement.

“You don’t automatically get a better deal by pleading guilty,” the judge told Lum.

Lum, who has a master’s degree from Harvard Business School, resigned from the High Museum in December while accused of misappropriating around $600,000 by board members for the Woodruff Arts Center. The museum is a division of the center, alongside the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Alliance Theatre.

Woodruff’s CEO and President Hala Moddelmog previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the board members voted to refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Lum was charged by federal prosecutors in April when he waived the right to be indicted by a grand jury.

U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg said at the time that Lum, whose annual salary was more than $300,000, “used the museum’s money as his personal slush fund and thereby betrayed one of Atlanta’s civic crown jewels.”

The Midtown museum is the largest of its kind for visual art in the Southeast. Moddelmog previously said Lum is believed to have acted alone to steal from the museum over several years and said the theft would not impact the operations of the museum or the Woodruff Arts Center.