Metro

Feds in probe of B’way ‘death’

The FBI and Manhattan federal prosecutors are now probing the bizarre circumstances surrounding the collapse of the Broadway musical “Rebecca,” sources told The Post yesterday.

The show’s producer, Ben Sprecher, was forced to pull the plug on it last week after one mysterious investor, Paul Abrams, supposedly died suddenly of malaria and an anonymous poison-pen e-mail scared off another, sources said.

Sprecher said the criminal probe is focusing on the vicious e-mail, which he said was “filled with lies and innuendo.”

His lawyer, Ronald Russo, told Bloomberg News the missive said, in part, “It is a near certainty that the man Paul Abrams was made up several months ago to defraud other investors as a placeholder while Mr. Sprecher continued to try and raise money.’’

But a source familiar with the probe said the feds are looking beyond the e-mail, into “the big picture” surrounding the implosion of the highly anticipated show.

That includes the wild and murky tale about Abrams, the show’s principal investor, who is supposed to have died in London after contracting malaria in Africa.

His death — and existence — have never been independently confirmed, and Sprecher conceded he never met or even spoke to him, even though Abrams had allegedly promised to invest more than $4.5 million.

Industry sources yesterday said three other investors came in with “Paul Abrams” and disappeared as soon as he supposedly died. But nobody on the production team has any evidence they were real.

Meanwhile, Sprecher is attempting to calm his remaining investors by returning as much of their money as he can.

Additional reporting by Laura Italiano

The play was a proposed musical adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel.

According to people involved in the production, a new investor who is based in Florida had stepped forward at one point — only to be frightened away by the nasty e-mail.

The e-mail also drew the investor’s attention to stories in The Post and elsewhere about the mysterious Abrams and emphasized that his death had not been verified, sources said, adding it pointed out that “Rebecca” had been canceled twice before — once in London and again last year in New York.

The writer of the e-mail felt the investor should be aware of the troubled history of the show and its opaque finances, sources said.

One source said the e-mail “raised a lot of red flags” about the Broadway show.