Ex-Augusta employee accused of transporting ‘millions’ worth of stolen Masters memorabilia

Former Augusta National Golf Club warehouse coordinator Richard Brendan Globensky has been accused of transporting millions of dollars of stolen memorabilia related to The Masters.

Globensky, 39, allegedly carried out the scheme from 2009-22, transporting the stolen merchandise to Florida for the purposes of resale.

He is set to plead guilty on May 15, according to court documents cited by the Chicago Tribune.

Richard Globensky has been charged in federal court in Illinois in the transport of millions of dollars worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and memorabilia stolen from Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, according to court documents filed Tuesday, April 16, 2024. AP

Globensky is accused of stealing “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” from Augusta National and is alleged to have transported the stolen goods to Tampa, “knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”

The charging documents did not specify what memorabilia was stolen.

However, Darren Rovell reported at Cllct that one of the items Globensky allegedly stole was Arnold Palmer’s green jacket.

The report says that an Augusta member sought the help of a middleman known to be able to locate rare memorabilia to find the jacket, for the purposes of returning it to the famous golf club.

The jacket was eventually located and the buyer agreed to purchase it for $3.6 million last March.

When the transaction went down at the seller’s home, the FBI “swarmed” the scene and “interrogated” the seller, the report said.

The jacket was ultimately seized by the feds.

Arnold Palmer’s green jacket was reportedly one of the items stolen from Augusta National. AP

The Tribune cited real estate records as showing that Globensky and his wife sold their expansive home in Evans, Ga. for $2 million last year.

The home contains six bedrooms, is 7,300-square-foot and includes an in-ground pool and an outdoor putting green.

He currently works as a mortgage broker.

Augusta National is fiercely protective of its memorabilia, and the green jackets are never supposed to leave the club’s grounds.

In 2017, Augusta National filed a lawsuit against a Florida company seeking to stop the sale of the green jackets of one former champion and two members of the club, according to the Associated Press.