Toronto-based Imax has hired Joseph Sparacio as its new EVP of finance, and will station the former Loews Cineplex exec to its offices in New York next month, where he will report to co-chairs and co-CEOs Richard Gelfond and Bradley Wechsler.

Sparacio relieves interim CFO Ed MacNeil, who has manned the troubled books of the large-format film company since last summer. The previous CFO, Frank Joyce, resigned in August just days before the company was hit with a series of shareholder lawsuits, alleging that Imax misled investors during its search for a buyer in early 2006. The company is also under informal investigation by the Ontario Securities Commission and the SEC and, this year, has twice delayed filing its year-end numbers.

The delay stems from recently discovered accounting errors — adding up to $2.5 million over a five-year period — and ‘certain comments’ made by both watchdog groups in connection to revenue reported from theater installations.

Gelfond and Wechsler hailed Sparacio as ‘a seasoned veteran with in-depth knowledge of the entertainment industry’ in a statement.