Some fear that, rather than a freak occurrence, First Brands is an omen of corporate flame-outs to come after years of loosening lending standards. Photo by Marian Vecjik/Getty Images/Postmedia files

First Brands chief Patrick James had been here before.

Well over a decade before the lightning-fast collapse of his auto-parts conglomerate shook the highest echelons of Wall Street, the Ohio-based businessman was battling creditors in court over millions of dollars in defaulted debts and fending off allegations of fraud .

James always denied such accusations. He settled and moved on. Soon he was on to his next project, assembling a new group of lenders to help him form a conglomerate from a ragbag collection of factories making spark plugs, brake components and windscreen wipers f

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