By Associated Press, Published: June 10

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/federal-jury-in-va-convicts-texas-businessman-of-all-15-counts-in-multistate-100m-fraud/2011/06/10/AG4WoIPH_story.html

RICHMOND, Va. — A federal jury deliberated less than three hours Friday before convicting a Texas businessman of 15 counts in a $100 million life insurance fraud scheme that prosecutors say claimed hundreds of victims in about three dozen states and Canada.

Adley Abdulwahab, 35, of Spring, Texas, was found guilty of conspiracy, wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. The offenses are punishable by up to 255 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne and lawyers in the case will decide on a sentencing date in a conference call Monday.

“Today’s quick verdict found Mr. Abdulwahab guilty of a $100 million fraud and stealing the life savings of elderly retirees and hundreds of others who have seen everything they worked years for disappear,” U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride said in a written statement. “This case, involving victims in dozens of states, clearly demonstrates that a national fraud case can have real implications to everyday people.”

Defense attorney Murray Janus said no decision has been made on whether to appeal.

“We’re very disappointed with the verdict,” he said, adding that he had expected the jurors to take more time with the complex case.

“There were 15 counts, and the jury couldn’t have had time to even read all of them, but it was Friday afternoon before the weekend,” Janus said.

Abdulwahab was one of the principals in Houston-based companies known collectively as A&O that used investor funds to buy life insurance policies from insured people at less than face value and promised to pay investors after the benefits were distributed. Prosecutors alleged company officials misrepresented various aspects of A&O, including its size, its record of success and how it handled investors’ money.

Jessica Brumberg, an assistant U.S. attorney, said in closing arguments Friday morning that the case was about “lies that enabled the defendant to take millions of dollars from investors and use it to finance his lavish lifestyle.” Prosecutors showed the jury photographs of Abdulwahab’s huge home and expensive cars, including a Ferrari, a BMW sport utility vehicle and a customized Jeep.

Janus, however, argued that the only people lying were former Abdulwahab associates who testified for the prosecution as part of plea agreements. Janus told the jury that those witnesses admitted lying to investigators and should not be believed.

The company was founded by Christian Allmendinger and Brent Oncale, who brought Abdulwahab on as a partner after he had tremendous success selling A&O’s “life settlement” contracts.

Allmendinger was convicted by a jury in March on seven fraud and money laundering counts, and Oncale — one of the former associates who testified against Abdulwahab — pleaded guilty.

Four others also have pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme, including a Richmond sales agent whose involvement was one of the reasons the case was brought in Virginia. Some of the approximately 800 victims also live in the area.

In her closing, Brumberg said Abdulwahab lied not only to investors, but also to sales agents, lawyers and state regulators — all to keep the money rolling in.

Prosecutors claimed Abdulwahab conducted business under the name “Wahab” so anyone conducting a background check would not see he had pleaded guilty to forgery of a commercial instrument in 2003, before he joined A&O. They also introduced evidence that when Abdulwahab later filled out an application to manage a hedge fund, he checked the “no” box next to a question about whether he had ever pleaded guilty to a felony.

According to Abdulwahab, he shortened his name because people found his real name difficult to spell and pronounce, and his forgery case was designated for “deferred adjudication,” meaning it would be dropped if he successfully completed a probationary period.

Janus said prosecutors were trying to create the impression that the life settlement business is illegal, that Abdulwahab had been convicted of forgery and that he changed his name to try to hide something — none of which was true, he said.

“If that’s the best they can do, so be it — but it’s not proof of a fraud,” Janus said.

But Brumberg and another prosecutor, Michael Steven Dry, went over the alleged lies one by one, pointing to discrepancies in the testimony of Abdulwahab and other witnesses.

“Some of the strongest evidence in the government’s case was when he was on the stand because you judged his credibility,” Dry said of the defendant.

In dealing with a motion earlier in the day outside the jury’s presence, Payne said this was one of those rare cases in which a defendant’s testimony “was so fundamentally at odds with the rest of the credible evidence” that it reinforced the government’s case.