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high museum coo resigns 600k misappropriation probe 1234774573

Brady Lum, the chief operating officer of Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, has resigned following an internal investigation into the alleged misappropriation of approximately $600,000. The Woodruff Arts Center, which oversees the museum, discovered financial irregularities in early December and subsequently referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia for potential criminal prosecution. The organization believes Lum acted alone over a period of three to four years.

article news schedule Jan 2, 2026 visibility 6

audit irregularities baltimore lewis museum 1234768649

An August 15 audit by the Maryland Department of Legislative Services uncovered serious financial irregularities at Baltimore’s Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture. The audit found corporate credit card charges without a clear business purpose, payments made to an employee’s PayPal account, a former employee pocketing parking fees, and a practice of pre-signing blank checks stored in an unsecured office. Though only $10,115 was unaccounted for between April 2021 and January 2025, the museum’s annual budget is $6.3 million, and it receives up to half its funding from taxpayers. The museum’s president Terri L. Freeman and board chairman Drew Hawkins have since destroyed all pre-signed checks and implemented 12 of 18 audit recommendations, with four more in progress. The employees involved are no longer at the museum, and findings were referred to the Maryland Attorney General.

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