A&O’s life portfolio sold after principals’ fraud leads to bankruptcy

http://ifawebnews.com/2011/10/16/ao’s-life-portfolio-sold-after-principals-fraud-leads-to-bankruptcy/

A&O’s life portfolio sold after principals’ fraud leads to bankruptcy

New York, N.Y.-based life settlement broker sold A&O’s remaining life insurance portfolio for $4.84 million after the company filed for bankruptcy.

Melville Capital (MC) was retained as the life settlement broker and advisor to Jeff Marwil, partner of law firm Proskauer Rose, the trustee for A&O in connection with bankruptcy proceedings.

MC said it produced $3.42 million in this latest sale and $4.84 million in total.

A&O’s principal business was acting as a buyer of existing life insurance policies. But each of the A&O Life Fund entities filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Chicago Sept. 2, 2009. Documents filed in the bankruptcy court list more than 700 individual investors as creditors, according to MC.

A&O was “an extremely complicated case” for several reasons, including the alleged fraud by the company’s principals, according to MC Managing Director Doug Himmel.

Brent Oncale, 36, former principal of A&O entities, pleaded guilty Nov. 10, 2010, to a two-count criminal information alleging conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering involving losses to investors of more than $50 million.

Oncale admitted to making material misrepresentations and omissions to investors about A&O. He also admitted that he and his co-conspirators failed to inform A&O investors that the vast majority of investor money was used for purposes unrelated to purchasing and maintaining portfolios of life settlements.