TRENTON, NJ—The former mayor of Manalapan, New Jersey was arrested on Friday for allegedly submitting false 2007 and 2008 tax returns to buy property in Manalapan, authorities said.
Andrew Lucas, 36, also provided federal investigators and a federal grand jury with a phony document in 2013, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said.
Lucas was named in an 11-count indictment charging him with wire fraud, illegal monetary transaction, loan application fraud, false statements to the IRS, aggravated identity theft, obstruction of a grand jury investigation, and falsification of records in a federal investigation, according to the FBI.
According to the indictment unsealed Friday:
On December 15, 2009, Lucas submitted a loan application to a New Jersey bank requesting $525,000 to finance his purchase of the Burke Farm property in Manalapan.
Lucas provided the bank with falsified versions of his 2007 and 2008 tax returns, as well as a falsified version of a 2007 tax return for a relative whose name was also on the loan application. Lucas also falsely reported that he had a total of $210,000 in cash.
Lucas owned and operated Lucas Capital Advisors LLC .
To obtain the $250,000 down payment for the property, Lucas approached Victim 1, who was a client of Lucas Capital, to pitch an investment in an entity called VLM Investments LLC.
On February 15, 2010, Lucas presented a written note to Victim 1 that stated that the $250,000 investment was to be secured by “…interest in the equipment, fixtures, inventory, and accounts receivable” of VLM.
However, Lucas failed to inform Victim 1 that at the time the note was signed, VLM did not exist. Lucas also failed to disclose to Victim 1 that Lucas intended to make personal use of the funds.
It was not until three days later, on February 18, 2010, that Lucas created VLM by registering it with the state of New Jersey and the IRS, using the name and Social Security number of Lucas’s out-of-state relative, Victim 2, without Victim 2’s knowledge or permission.
On February 22, 2010, Lucas wired $250,000 from Victim 1’s Lucas Capital investment account to a VLM bank account that had Lucas as the only authorized signer.
On March 1, 2010, Lucas withdrew this money in the form of a bank check, which he provided the next day to the closing attorney for the purchase of the Burke Farm property.
Lucas also filed tax returns for VLM for tax years 2011 and 2012, both times listing Victim 2’s name and Social Security number without Victim 2’s knowledge or permission.
Lucas is facing up to 20 years behind bars on the wire fraud counts and falsification of records charges alone.