REIT manager to pay $30 million

W.P. Carey & Co., a manager of real estate investment trusts, will pay $30 million to settle allegations that it failed to disclose compensation it paid to broker-dealers, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm was accused of offering and selling more than $235 million of one of the affiliated REIT's shares without a registration statement between 2002 and 2003, in violation of the registration provisions of the federal securities laws. The New York-based investment firm will pay $20 million in disgorgement and a $10 million penalty to settle the case, the SEC said. Additionally, in a civil complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the SEC alleged the violations involved nearly $10 million in undisclosed compensation paid to a broker-dealer that sold real estate investment trusts. John Park, the company's chief financial officer, will pay a $240,000 penalty and includes a five-year bar from serving as an officer or director of a public company. Claude Fernandez, the company's former chief accounting officer will pay a $75,000 penalty and agreed to a two-year suspension from appearing before the SEC as an accountant. W.P. Carey agreed to the penalty without admitting or denying the SEC allegations.