Bed Bath & Beyond names interim CFO after executive's death

STORY: Bed Bath & Beyond named an interim CFO, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday, after former chief financial officer Gustavo Arnal fell to his death from a New York City skyscraper in what was later ruled a suicide.

Accounting head Laura Crossen, who has worked at Bed Bath & Beyond for more than two decades, will step into the interim CFO role at a tumultuous time for the struggling retailer.

Arnal's death comes after he, major shareholder Ryan Cohen and the company itself were sued over allegations of artificially inflating Bed Bath & Beyond's stock price in a “pump and dump” scheme.

Arnal sold over 55,000 shares in the so-called meme stock last month, according to Reuters’ calculations based on SEC filings. The sales amounted to about $1.4 million. Arnal still had about 255,000 shares remaining.

The lawsuit alleges Arnal made misleading statements to investors, and sold off his shares at a higher price after the scheme.

The class action lawsuit was brought by a group of shareholders who claimed they lost around $1.2 billion.

The company said it was "in the early stages of evaluating the complaint, but based on current knowledge the company believes the claims are without merit."

Last week, Bed Bath & Beyond said it would close 150 stores, cut jobs and overhaul its merchandising strategy in an attempt to turn around its money-losing business.

Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond fell as much as almost 17% in morning trading.