SEC suspends former ARCP accounting officer Lisa McAlister

The Securities and Exchange Commission has permanently suspended Lisa McAlister, the former chief accounting officer of American Reality Capital Properties Inc. In a settlement in which she consented to the agency's findings, the SEC said that Ms. McAlister "engaged in a fraudulent scheme to manipulate and falsely report a key financial metric" at the real estate investment firm where she was chief accounting officer from November 2013 until her resignation in October 2014. The SEC complaint alleged, among other things, that Ms. McAlister and the firm's former chief financial officer manipulated and falsely reported ARCP's "Adjusted Funds from Operations," a key non-GAAP financial metric, in its public reports for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2014. The complaint alleged that the inflated figures, among other things, made it appear that ARCP had met analysts' consensus AFFO estimates for the quarter and concealed the fact that ARCP had overstated that number for the previous quarter. In June, Ms. McAlister, a certified public accountant, pleaded guilty to charges that she violated portions of the securities laws, as well as federal laws involving conspiracy and making false statements. American Realty Capital Properties is now known as Vereit Inc.