Lucas sentenced to five years in prison for farmland scheme

By MARK ROSMAN
Staff Writer

Andrew Lucas, a former mayor of Manalapan, was ordered to serve five years in federal prison after being sentenced for defrauding an investment client of $250,000 and submitting a falsified loan application in order to purchase farmland in Manalapan, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Lucas, 37, was previously convicted by a federal jury on all 11 counts of an indictment charging him with wire fraud, an 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.

Lucas was sentenced to prison by U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson, who imposed the sentence on May 1 in federal court in Trenton.

Attorney Mario F. Gallucci of Staten Island said, “Mr. Lucas was lucky to be sentenced by Judge Wolfson. She is an incredible jurist who took all of the factors into consideration and meted out a fair sentence. We asked and Judge Wolfson recommended that Mr. Lucas be allowed to serve his time in a facility close to his home. The Bureau of Prisons will make the final determination.”

Gallucci said there is a federal facility at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in south central New Jersey.

Lucas served on the Manalapan Township Committee from January 2005 through Oct. 7, 2013, when he resigned from office two months before his third three-year term was due to expire. His eight-plus years of service on the governing body included one-year terms as mayor of his hometown in 2007, 2010 and 2011.

According to documents filed in Lucas’ criminal case and the evidence at the trial: On Dec. 15, 2009, Lucas submitted a loan application to a New Jersey bank requesting $525,000 to finance his purchase of the Burke Farm property on Iron Ore Road 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 (Lucas Capital), through which he served as an investment advisor and manager to multiple individuals. To obtain the $250,000 down payment for the property, Lucas approached a client of Lucas Capital to pitch an investment in an entity called VLM Investments LLC (VLM).

On Feb. 15, 2010, Lucas presented a written note to that client which 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 his client that at the time the note was signed, VLM did not exist.

Lucas also failed to disclose to his client that Lucas intended to make personal use of the funds. It was not until three days later, on Feb. 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 an out-of-state relative without the relative’s knowledge or permission.

On Feb. 22, 2010, Lucas authorized the wiring of $250,000 from his client’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 his relative’s name and Social Security number without that individual’s knowledge or permission.

Federal investigators served Lucas with subpoenas on Feb. 7, 2013, for the records of VLM and Lucas Capital Advisors. In response, Lucas provided federal authorities with a fabricated and back-dated letter purporting to be from his relative concerning a transaction for the purchase of the Burke Farm property.

In addition to the prison term, Wolfson sentenced Lucas to serve three years of supervised release and to forfeit Burke Farm.