CLEVELAND, Ohio — The meteoric rise of Cleveland-based First Brands to one of the largest replacement auto parts sellers in the world was based on fraud, federal prosecutors said on Thursday.
First Brands founder Patrick James, 61, of Chagrin Falls, and Edward James, 60, of Canton, launched the company in 2013 and said it annually sold some $5 billion worth of replacement brakes, windshield wipers and other replacement parts.
The brothers fleeced lenders for years, prosecutors said. When the company collapsed into bankruptcy in last year, it owed more than $9 billion and had only $12 million left…