# First Brands Group — Document Checklist

Case No. 4:25-bk-90399 · U.S. Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Texas (Houston) · Judge Christopher M. Lopez · Filed 2025-09-28
On "how many are there": the full docket has 3,160+ entries as of 2026-07-10 (98 affiliated debtors makes this a huge case). The overwhelming majority are routine procedural filings — notices of appearance, stipulations, pro hac vice motions — with no relevance to the fraud story. This checklist is the small set that actually matters, not the full docket.
DIRECT = confirmed working link, click to open/download. LOCATE = confirmed to exist (filing date + description verified via news coverage), but no direct PDF link found yet — pull it from the Kroll docket search or PACER directly. UNVERIFIED = found by the Gemini deep-research pass (2026-07-11) with a real citation, but not independently spot-checked yet — treat as a lead, not a confirmed fact, before it goes in a script.

## Primary sources — verify the top-line facts

DOJ SDNY press release — indictment announcement DIRECT 2026-01-29 · justice.gov/usao-sdny — 9-count indictment, Patrick & Edward James
IRS Criminal Investigation summary DIRECT 2026-01-29 · irs.gov — financial-impact figures ($12M cash / $9B+ liabilities)
Unsealed indictment (full PDF) LOCATE Case confirmed: 26 Cr. 29 (AT), S.D.N.Y., Judge Analisa Torres, trial set 2027-02-09 (independently verified) — search PACER/CourtListener for docket 1:26-cr-00029-AT

## Bankruptcy docket — case administration

Kroll case portal (docket search) DIRECT Free, public, no signup · restructuring.ra.kroll.com/firstbrands/Home-DocketInfo — JS-rendered, browse manually
PacerMonitor public docket mirror DIRECT Free entry list (no login for the list itself) · pacermonitor.com
Docket #22 — early case-caption filing DIRECT Mirrored PDF · dowjones.ai proxy — confirm exact contents on open, likely a first-day motion or supporting declaration
Original Chapter 11 petition UNVERIFIED LINK Docket No. 1, filed 2025-09-28 · found PDF via docketalarm.com mirror: cloudfront.net link — open and confirm it's the real petition before citing
Schedules of Assets & Liabilities LOCATE Filing was delayed — reportedly not filed until 2026-01-20 given the SPV complexity (unverified date) — search Kroll's "Schedules & SOFA" tab for filings on/after that date

## The fraud investigation — the actual story

Order approving examiner (Martin De Luca) LOCATE 2025-11-19 · $7M budget, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP · covered by Bloomberg
Examiner's interim report — cover Notice, Docket #1650 LOCATE — no free path exists Filed 2026-04-17 (Notice) / findings covered from 2026-04-27 · $1.4B in fake invoices found (independently verified); "wealth extraction tool" framing · covered by Bloomberg Law.
Checked exhaustively (2026-07-11, Gemini research pass #2) — confirmed NOT obtainable free anywhere: Kroll's own portal returns "No Record(s)" for the PDF payload (metadata exists, file is locked); no legal-news outlet (WSJ/Bloomberg Law/FT/Law360/GTR) embedded the raw PDF, all worked from paid terminal access; RECAP/PacerMonitor/DocketAlarm all have it indexed but not free. Two real remaining options: (1) buy it via PACER once search access activates (~$3 cap), or (2) direct request to Jayson B. Ruff at the U.S. Trustee's Office (ran the examiner selection) or media relations at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP for a courtesy copy of the unsealed cover notice. The attached "Exhibit A" is sealed by court order and is NOT obtainable through any channel, including PACER.
Important nuance for the script: the examiner found no proof Patrick James personally directed the invoice fabrication — that piece is pinned on CFO Stephen Graham and VP Brumbergs, who both pleaded guilty. Don't flatten this into "James faked the invoices himself" — the criminal indictment charges him with running the broader enterprise, which is a separate finding.
Liquidating plan / global settlement LOCATE Case resolution — chapter 7 conversion for most debtors · referenced in Yahoo Finance coverage
Brumbergs — Information (Felony, Sealed) DOWNLOADED Case confirmed: 1:26-cr-00025, S.D.N.Y. · filed 2026-01-30 · the actual charging document — downloaded free via RECAP (someone had already purchased it): `00_case_file/source_documents/brumbergs_information_felony_sealed.pdf`
Brumbergs — Notice of Intent to File Information DOWNLOADED Filed 2026-01-30 — downloaded free via RECAP: `00_case_file/source_documents/brumbergs_notice_of_intent_to_file_information.pdf`
Brumbergs — Waiver of Indictment DOWNLOADED Filed 2026-01-30 — confirms he pleaded via Information, not a grand jury indictment (standard for a cooperating defendant) — downloaded free via RECAP: `00_case_file/source_documents/brumbergs_waiver_of_indictment.pdf`
Stephen Graham (former CFO) — guilty plea LOCATE Second cooperating executive, named alongside Brumbergs in examiner-report coverage — docket not yet located, search SDNY criminal docket

## Spot-checked narrative claims — from the Gemini deep-research pass (2026-07-11)

Each of these was independently re-verified via separate searches (not just trusted from the research pass) before being marked confirmed. Good, documentary-worthy material — quotable, specific, sourced to named outlets — but note the precision corrections on a few.
BDO chosen as auditor for being "less rigorous" CONFIRMED A former senior employee told the examiner First Brands picked BDO because it was "less rigorous" and let the company "do what we want with these guys." BDO's public defense ("inappropriate and factually inaccurate conclusions... based on hearsay") also confirmed. A lender has separately sued BDO directly over missed red flags. Sources: Bloomberg, Crain's Chicago Business
"Financial kingpin" charge (18 U.S.C. § 225) is genuinely rare CONFIRMED, precision correction Correction: the research pass claimed "first prosecution in nearly 30 years" nationally — the actual sourced claim is narrower and still striking: no Section 225 case was charged anywhere in the Second Circuit in the last decade until this year. Use the precise version, not the inflated one. Source: Securities Docket / Law.com
Jamie Dimon "cockroaches" quote CONFIRMED, precision correction Real quote, real earnings-call moment — but it's a general private-credit warning tied to both Tricolor AND First Brands together (Tricolor failed first, in September 2025), not a First-Brands-specific reaction as the research pass implied. JPMorgan's own $170M loss was tied to Tricolor, not First Brands. Keep the framing accurate: both failures triggered the remark. Sources: Fortune, PitchBook
$285.5M tariff-fraud whistleblower claim CONFIRMED Precise figure is $285.5M, not a round $286M. Filed by whistleblower "Alder Wood" under a qui tam complaint originally lodged March 2022 (years before the bankruptcy), alleging First Brands cut declared import prices to Chinese customs by ~32% to dodge tariffs on brake parts. Source: Bloomberg
Onset Financial "employee of the year" / 179% return CONFIRMED — great quotable detail Real, and sourced directly to court papers via Bloomberg: a 2022 internal First Brands message joked the Onset rep who sold them a 179%-IRR inventory loan would be "employee of the year" (one version says "employee of the century"). Onset collected ~$2.9B in repayments after providing ~$2.5B — while still claiming $1.9B more is owed. Source: Bloomberg
Patrick James personal spending — 17 exotic cars, Hamptons, private chef CONFIRMED, precision correction Correction: the figure is $700 million alleged looted (not $720M) — sourced to First Brands' own lawsuit against its founder. 17 "exotic cars," Malibu and Hamptons homes, a personal chef and trainer, all confirmed by multiple outlets. The $18.75M Hamptons house is the same property partially securing his $50M bond. Fairness note: James's spokesman has called these allegations "baseless and speculative" — include that denial if this goes in a script. Sources: Fortune, Yahoo Finance