Plea agreement offers details on $5.6 million in thefts of Masters merchandise
A plea agreement recently filed by a former Augusta National employee in Northern Illinois District Court provides more details about the alleged $5.6 million Masters merchandise theft operation.
Richard Brendan Globensky, 39, of Augusta, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Chicago to transporting and transferring stolen goods in interstate commerce.
He faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gain from the offense, according to the agreement. Globensky also owes Augusta National Golf Club nearly $3.5 million in restitution.
The thefts allegedly occurred while Globensky was working as a warehouse assistant from 2009 to 2022, according to the agreement.
Globensky did not have a criminal history, according to court documents.
As part of the agreement, the U.S. agrees not to seek additional criminal charges in the Northern District of Illinois for the events between 2009 and 2022.
However, the agreement does not limit the U.S. from prosecuting Globensky in other districts for crimes not included in the agreement.
Here's what we know about the high-dollar operation, according to court documents:
Previous report: Former Augusta National employee pleads guilty to stealing Masters merchandise, memorabilia
Stolen items included Masters merch, historical memorabilia
Aside from selling Masters Tournament merchandise that would commonly be found in the Masters gift shop, Globensky also sold historical Masters memorabilia.
Items allegedly stolen by Globensky include:
Arnold Palmer's green jacket, Ben Hogan's green jacket and Gene Sarazen's green jacket
Masters Tournament programs from 1934 and 1935
Augusta National clubhouse trophy
Masters Tournament tickets from 1934 through 1939
Augusta National pickard porcelain bowl
Masters Tournament records from 1942
2009 Masters commemorative putter
Documents and letters written and signed by Bobby Jones
An Augusta National stock book
Augusta National unissued share of stock from 1932 signed by Fielding Wallace
Various Masters Tournament and Augusta National members gifts from 1964 through 2007
Globensky was allegedly paid nearly $300,000 for the memorabilia.
How the items were resold
Globensky allegedly sold the stolen Masters Tournament merchandise to a person who owned and operated two Florida-based online businesses that specialized in selling and auctioning Masters items.
The business owner sent Globensky requests for specific items and Globensky would send them photos of the items he could steal from the Augusta National Golf Club warehouse.
After negotiating a price with the business owner, Globensky loaded the stolen merchandise into a truck and sent it to an offsite storage facility in Augusta.
The business owner would then travel to Augusta to pick up the stolen items from the storage facility and take it back to Florida, or Globensky would ship the merch to Florida via commercial carriers.
The business paid Globensky for the items and then resold the items online at significant markups.
How Globensky flew under the radar
Globensky was able to operate the scheme undetected for years by taking the following precautions:
Stealing items in quantities he knew would fall below the Augusta National's auditing risk thresholds;
Having the business owner issue payments in his wife's name;
Setting up an LLC that was used only for receiving payments for the stolen items;
Shipping stolen items to a third-party stand-in business to disguise the business was the intended recipient; and,
Discussing how the business should only sell Masters merch that was, or would be, sold by the Augusta National at the Masters Tournament or was undated so it could not be traced to a specific tournament.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Plea agreement details multi-million Masters employee theft
