From the U.S. Attorney:
Former Employee of Augusta National Golf Club Sentenced to a Year in Federal Prison for Stealing Masters Golf Tournament Merchandise and Memorabilia
CHICAGO — A former employee of the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia was sentenced today to a year in federal prison for stealing millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and memorabilia and selling it to online brokers.
RICHARD BRENDAN GLOBENSKY, 40, of Evans, Ga., pleaded guilty last year in U.S. District Court in Chicago to a federal charge of transporting and transferring stolen goods in interstate commerce. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman today ordered Globensky to pay $3,448,842 in restitution to Augusta National.
The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. Valuable assistance was provided by the FBI’s Art Crime Team.
Globensky admitted in a plea agreement that he stole the merchandise and memorabilia from 2009 to 2022 while he was employed by the club as a warehouse assistant.
The merchandise included Masters shirts, hats, flags, watches, and other goods, while the memorabilia included historically significant items, such as the Green Jackets awarded to tournament winners Arnold Palmer, Gene Sarazen, and Ben Hogan.
Globensky sold the merchandise to an online broker in Florida for a total of approximately $5.3 million.
He sold the historically significant memorabilia to the same broker, as well as to the broker’s associate, for nearly $300,000.
The brokers later re-sold the stolen merchandise and memorabilia, often at significant markups from the amounts paid to Globensky.
At least one of the stolen items was purchased by a collector in Chicago.
During the last six years of the crime, Globensky spent more than $370,000 to purchase five vehicles and a motorboat, as well as more than $160,000 for Walt Disney-themed vacations and related activities.
Globensky also spent nearly $600,000 on construction of a custom-built residence in Georgia and approximately $32,000 at luxury retailer Louis Vuitton.
“The funds Globensky obtained enabled him and his spouse to live a lifestyle far beyond their means,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Hayes argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.
“The manner in which he spent the proceeds suggests greed was his primary motivation for committing the offense.”
