SEC v. Glen Leibowitz, No. LR-26271, Southern District of New York (Mar. 17, 2025) — Press Release

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26271 / March 17, 2025 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Glen Leibowitz, No. 1:25-cv-02155 (S.D.N.Y. filed Mar. 14, 2025) SEC Charges Former Public Company CFO with Lying to Auditors and Falsifying Records On March 14, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against Glen Leibowitz, a New York-licensed CPA and the former chief financial officer (CFO) of Acreage Holdings, Inc., for allegedly lying to Acreage’s auditor and falsifying Acreage’s accounting records. According to the SEC’s complaint, Leibowitz’s violations arise from a round-trip transfer of cash between Acreage and an affiliated entity that temporarily increased Acreage’s year-end 2019 cash balance on its internal accounting records. With Leibowitz’s alleged knowledge and participation, Acreage caused an affiliated entity to transfer approximately $4.2 million into Acreage’s bank account on December 26, 2019, with the express understanding that Acreage would return the exact same amount at the beginning of the new year, which it did on January 3, 2020. The complaint alleges that Leibowitz knew that the round-trip cash transfer had no economic substance or legitimate business purpose and was intended to bolster Acreage’s publicly reported year-end cash balance. The complaint further alleges that Leibowitz was then responsible for Acreage’s accounting staff’s creation of journal entries that mischaracterized the round-trip transaction, first as a repayment of debt owed by the affiliate and later as a short-term loan from the affiliate to Acreage. After certain employees’ concerns about the transaction were escalated to a member of Acreage’s board of directors, Leibowitz allegedly directed Acreage’s accounting staff to record an additional journal entry that effectively reversed the transaction. The complaint also alleges that during the audit of Acreage’s fiscal year 2019 financial statements, Leibowitz misrepresented and omitted material facts about the round-trip cash transfer in written and oral statements he made to the accounting firm conducting the audit, including in Acreage’s management representation letter. The SEC’s complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges Leibowitz with violating Section 13(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and Rules 13b2-1 and 13b2-2 thereunder, and with aiding and abetting Acreage’s violations of Section 13(b)(2)(A) of the Exchange Act. The complaint seeks permanent injunctive relief, civil monetary penalties and a conduct-based injunction. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Kiran Patel, Nandy Celamy, Jessica Quinn, Rusty Feldman and George N. Stepaniuk and was supervised by Thomas P. Smith, Jr., all of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Mr. Feldman and Mr. Patel and supervised by Daniel Loss. The litigation will be led by Mr. Feldman and Mr. Patel and supervised by Daniel Loss.

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26271 / March 17, 2025 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Glen Leibowitz, No. 1:25-cv-02155 (S.D.N.Y. filed Mar. 14, 2025) SEC Charges Former Public Company CFO with Lying to Auditors and Falsifying Records On March 14, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against Glen Leibowitz, a New York-licensed CPA and the former chief financial officer (CFO) of Acreage Holdings, Inc., for allegedly lying to Acreage’s auditor and falsifying Acreage’s accounting records. According to the SEC’s complaint, Leibowitz’s violations arise from a round-trip transfer of cash between Acreage and an affiliated entity that temporarily increased Acreage’s year-end 2019 cash balance on its internal accounting records. With Leibowitz’s alleged knowledge and participation, Acreage caused an affiliated entity to transfer approximately $4.2 million into Acreage’s bank account on December 26, 2019, with the express understanding that Acreage would return the exact same amount at the beginning of the new year, which it did on January 3, 2020. The complaint alleges that Leibowitz knew that the round-trip cash transfer had no economic substance or legitimate business purpose and was intended to bolster Acreage’s publicly reported year-end cash balance. The complaint further alleges that Leibowitz was then responsible for Acreage’s accounting staff’s creation of journal entries that mischaracterized the round-trip transaction, first as a repayment of debt owed by the affiliate and later as a short-term loan from the affiliate to Acreage. After certain employees’ concerns about the transaction were escalated to a member of Acreage’s board of directors, Leibowitz allegedly directed Acreage’s accounting staff to record an additional journal entry that effectively reversed the transaction. The complaint also alleges that during the audit of Acreage’s fiscal year 2019 financial statements, Leibowitz misrepresented and omitted material facts about the round-trip cash transfer in written and oral statements he made to the accounting firm conducting the audit, including in Acreage’s management representation letter. The SEC’s complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges Leibowitz with violating Section 13(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and Rules 13b2-1 and 13b2-2 thereunder, and with aiding and abetting Acreage’s violations of Section 13(b)(2)(A) of the Exchange Act. The complaint seeks permanent injunctive relief, civil monetary penalties and a conduct-based injunction. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Kiran Patel, Nandy Celamy, Jessica Quinn, Rusty Feldman and George N. Stepaniuk and was supervised by Thomas P. Smith, Jr., all of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Mr. Feldman and Mr. Patel and supervised by Daniel Loss. The litigation will be led by Mr. Feldman and Mr. Patel and supervised by Daniel Loss.