The U.S. Department of Justice has charged Brady Lumm, former CEO of the "High of Art" museum in Atlanta, the largest visual arts museum in the southeastern United States, with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the museum by falsifying invoices and approving personal purchase transactions.

U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement published by Art News: "For years, Lumm looted the leading visual arts museum through fraudulent means, embezzling more than half a million dollars."

He added: "Criminals like Lumm, who steal from institutions that receive taxpayer money to serve the public, will face prison time for theft and will be forced to repay the funds they obtained illegally."

Brady Lumm pleaded guilty on Monday in court to a federal theft charge.

High Museum of Art - high.org

The High Museum is located in downtown Atlanta and is the largest visual arts museum, with a collection of more than 20,000 artworks spanning various fields including African art, American art, European art, and modern and contemporary art. The museum is part of the Woodruff Arts Center, designed by Richard Meier, which also houses the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Alliance Theatre.

Lumm held his position from 2019 until his resignation amid an investigation in 2025, and was responsible for overseeing the museum's operational and financial activities. The Justice Department stated that he repeatedly purchased personal goods and services for non-business purposes, including an expensive guitar and other musical equipment, as well as private music lessons.

According to the Justice Department, Lumm concealed his embezzlement by submitting falsified invoices, exploited his position to approve expenses, and used "accounting adjustments to distribute his expenses across different cost centers to make them difficult to detect."

In fiscal year 2025, the museum recorded revenues of approximately $30.8 million, up from just under $30 million the previous year, and net assets without donor restrictions of $11.2 million, up from just under $11 million.