The building that houses the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York at 1 St. Andrew’s Plaza in New York.

The founder and managing partner of several private equity funds has admitted to defrauding investors out of more than $50 million and spending most of it on a wide array of personal expenses, New York officials announced.

According to a July 24 news release from the Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office, Jay Lucas, a 71-year-old Portsmouth, New Hampshire resident, founded the Manhattan-based private equity fund Lucas Brand Equity LLC, which promised to invest in fledgling health and wellness brands. However, instead of investor money........

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