SEC Bans Former ARCP Executive
The Securities and Exchange Commission has permanently barred former American Realty Capital Properties chief accounting officer Lisa McAlister from practicing as an accountant on SEC-related matters, according to an order issued by the regulators.
McAlister, who plead guilty to securities fraud last year and is awaiting trial, submitted a settlement offer to the SEC which they accepted. The SEC-imposed sanction suspends her from appearing or practicing before the SEC as an accountant, effective immediately.
McAlister and former-CFO Brian Block were accused of fraudulently inflating the ARCP’s second quarter 2014 financial results to make it appear that the company had achieved certain financial metrics when it had not.
McAlister cooperated with the prosecution during the trial and testified that CEO Nicholas Schorsch directed Block to manipulate and conceal the falsified numbers.
Also at the trial, McAlister admitted that she lied to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in a wrongful termination complaint claiming that she was a whistleblower rather than a co-conspirator after being fired by ARCP. She made similar claims in a $50 million defamation lawsuit against the company and certain officers, and has since pled guilty to making a material false statement in her OSHA filing.
In June, Block was found guilty of securities fraud and other charges and is facing upwards of 20 years behind bars. Sentencing is expected in late October. Schorsch has not been named in any federal indictments regarding the ARCP affair or other AR Global-related scandals.
