Schorsch REIT executive Brian Block heading to prison

After nearly three years of legal maneuvering following a guilty conviction for securities fraud, Brian Block, the former senior financial officer for several real estate investment trusts run by Nicholas Schorsch, is heading to prison.

Block was found guilty by a jury for securities fraud and related charges in June 2017 in federal court in Manhattan. Since then, he and his attorneys sought a new trial and then tried to take his case to appeals court.

That didn't work. Earlier this month, U.S. district court judge J. Paul Oetken ordered Block to report to federal prison in August to begin his 18-month sentence.

An attorney for Block, Michael C. Miller, a partner at Steptoe & Johnson, did not return calls to comment.

Oetken recommended that Block be housed at the minimum-security prison camp at Federal Correctional Institution, Fairton in New Jersey. His date of surrender is August 10, according to the order.

Block was the former chief financial officer of American Realty Capital Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust founded and run by real estate investor Schorsch. The charges against Block relate to his fraudulent preparation in 2014 of financial statements for ARCP, which has since changed its name to Vereit Inc.

Schorsch and his management team were then replaced by the end of 2014 and had no further involvement in the company.

Schorsch was not charged in the matter.