Founder Of A&O Entities Convicted In $100 Million Financial Fraud

The case involved a $2 million home, a Lamborghini Spyder and a 15 carat diamond ring, according to federal authorities. And a jury apparently agreed: it has convicted Christian M. Allmendinger, a co-founder and vice president of A&O Resource Management Ltd. who was active in the day-to-day management of its businesses as well as in the marketing of A&O life settlement investment products to investors, for his role in a $100 million financial fraud with more than 800 victims across the U.S. and Canada.                       

“Christian Allmendinger stole millions from elderly retirees to buy flashy cars and a multi-million-dollar home,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride. “This was a national fraud case brought by the Virginia Financial and Securities Fraud Task Force that has real implications to dozens of investors in Richmond, who gave most of their life savings and have seen it all disappear.”
 
On Sept. 7, 2010, a federal grand jury returned an 18 count indictment against Allmendinger and two other principals of A&O and various related entities that acquired and marketed life settlements to investors. Allmendinger was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, two counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, two counts of money laundering and one count of securities fraud. At sentencing, Allmendinger faces up to 20 years in prison on each count except the securities fraud count, on which he faces up to 5 years in prison.
 
Allmendinger’s co-defendant, Adley H. Abdulwahab, is scheduled for a jury trial beginning July 5, 2011. 
 
Evidence at Allmendinger’s trial established that during his involvement with the company, A&O obtained approximately $80 million from approximately 500 investors. The indictment alleged that the A&O fraud scheme as a whole exceeded $100 million and affected more than 800 investors, many of whom were elderly.
 
According to court records and evidence at trial, Allmendinger and others engaged in a scheme to defraud investors by making misrepresentations about such things as A&O’s prior success, its size and office locations, its number of employees, the risks of its investment offerings, and its safekeeping and use of investor funds.   Evidence at trial showed that Allmendinger routinely used investor funds for personal enrichment, including a $2 million home, a Lamborghini Spyder, and a 15-carat diamond ring, among other property.  
 
When state regulators began to scrutinize A&O’s investment products, Allmendinger and his co-conspirators decided to sell A&O in August 2007, which ended Allmendinger’s association with the fraud scheme. The indictment alleged that, through a series of sham sales, co-conspirators continued the fraud scheme through September 2009.
 
Five individuals have pleaded guilty in connection with the A&O fraud scheme: White, the former President of A&O; Brent Oncale, former vice president of A&O; Russell E. Mackert, an attorney for A&O; Eric M. Kurz, a wholesaler of A&O investment products; and Tomme Bromseth, an A&O sales agent in the Richmond area.