Pot supplier Trulieve taps another CFO after D’Amico scandal

Dive Brief:

Cannabis supplier Trulieve has appointed accounting veteran Wes Getman as its new CFO, the latest in a series of tumultuous financial leadership changes at the company over the past several months.
Getman, who most previously served as a partner at accounting, tax and valuation advisory firm WilliamsMarston, was named Trulieve’s CFO in late December, with an effective date of Jan. 1. The appointment follows a string of finance leadership changes last year, starting with the abrupt resignation of former Trulieve CFO Alex D'Amico, who later was accused by the company of inappropriately racking up as much as $400,000 in personal charges.
“Cannabis is an exciting and dynamic industry and Trulieve is incredibly well positioned for the coming wave of growth catalysts,” Getman said in a Trulieve press release announcing the latest change.

Dive Insight:

Quincy, Florida-based Trulieve isn’t the only cannabis company whose CFO seat has seen significant churn recently. MedMen Enterprises, another cannabis company, has faced similar challenges.

Trulieve announced D'Amico’s departure on June 19 of last year. The reason was initially unclear. However, the company subsequently disclosed that an audit investigation related to his corporate expenses and credit card transactions uncovered conduct that was “inconsistent with the company’s policies and procedures,” as previously reported by CFO Dive.

D’Amico both sought to be reimbursed for personal expenses and made personal purchases with company credit cards during his tenure at the firm, the company and its audit committee concluded. The company estimated that D’Amico did not reimburse the company for such expenses, with the total amount “in question” between $350,000 and $400,000.

As part of the June 19 announcement, Trulieve said it hired Tim Mullany, who previously served as CFO of Jack in the Box and Rave Restaurant Group, to replace D'Amico, effective July 10. Ryan Blust, Trulieve's vice president of finance, was tapped to serve as CFO on an interim basis pending Mullany’s arrival.

But the company announced on July 21 that Mullany was departing for “personal reasons.” Blust was again named an interim CFO pending a search for a permanent one.

In his new role, Getman is receiving an annual base salary of $475,000 per year, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Trulieve.

Getman has over 25 years of finance and accounting experience serving middle-market, private-equity backed and public companies, according to the filing. Besides WilliamsMarston, where he served for a year, his previous employers include Grant Thornton and PricewaterhouseCoopers.