WASHINGTON (AP) — The management team that took over First brands as well as debtors of the once fast-growing Cleveland auto parts supplier have sued its founder and CEO, saying that they now know where at least some of the more than $2 billion in missing funds went before the company sought bankruptcy protection in September.

In a lawsuit this week, they say Patrick James, who acquired numerous auto suppliers to form what became First Brands, went on a spending spree, buying exotic cars, expensive homes and this year, spent a half million dollars on a “private celebrity chef.”

The managers that have taken over First Brands allege that James secured billions of dollars in debt financing based in part on fraudulent invoices, then transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to himself and

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