A&O Update: Jeffrey Marwil Replaces Patrick Collins as A&O Bankruptcy Trustee
This week the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois replaced Patrick Collins with Jeffrey Marwil as trustee of the A&O bankruptcy. Here is the Court’s Order.
For persons not familiar with the A&O investment fraud scam, here are my earlier posts on the scam.
After A&O declared bankruptcy Patrick Collins was appointed trustee in the case. But Jeffrey Marwil won the creditors’ election, entitling him to be trustee. Collins and several creditors objected. The Court found that Marwil won the election fair and square. Also of note is the fact that the Court found that there was no evidence of improprieties by John Spaulding, who is connected with a law firm that represents many creditors and led the election of Marwil.
The Court stated that Collins did a good job as trustee, but that creditors are entitled to elect a new trustee for any reason or none at all.
I am not a bankruptcy lawyer, but this looks like it was a fight over control of the proceeding. Marwil won because he was backed by a larger group of creditors.
Does anyone know where Adley Wahab is these days?
My conversation with the investigator with the Texas State Securities Board provided this information. It only takes 20% of the affected investors to "elect" a new trustee. Apparently Debra Fritsche and Lori Hood hoodwinked enough gullible investors to get their proxies, and voted Mr. Marwil in. Many investors who are not represented by counsel had no input in this proceeding. I have also inquired about Wahab's status and whereabouts, and no one is talking. It's also unknown whether any criminal proceedings are underway against any of these sheisters. It's very frustrating to say the least, but if anyone is listening, I for one am more than happy to help with any prosecution. The whole thing is starting to reek of corruption, and we can only hope at this point for any restitution.
It's very concerning that the Spauldings got to vote, considering they sold there interest to someone else in Consolidated Wealth. Isn't this fraud voting and not truly having an interest and not disclosing this. Also the order states they are not sure what line of business consolidated wealth is.....HMMMMMM. Wasn't it just like AO and when the Spauldings and Osbornes got in trouble in Texas they moved shop to Missouri. Why did they choose to ignore the law and go to another state.This whole thing about John just suddenly leaving his practice so his law firm can represent investors is a SHAM. He is protecting his gang from being sued by the investors they sold.....
I would tend to agree with you, but I have no idea how we go about getting truthful answers to these and other questions that have come to mind over the past few months. I for one don't have the deep pockets necessary to hire a savage attorney to pursue this, so I guess we're at the mercy of the system.
From a inside source this is Adley's Phone # 832-444-7944. Call him see where he is.
I was surprised that Marwils’s firm never listed a disinterest with Bayou City Escrow, John and Laura Spalding or Johnson Spalding/Johnson Trent.
Maybe Johnson Trent has an indemnity clause with their partner, Spalding, which is why they are so interested in bringing this back to Texas.
Can anyone confirm that John Spalding allegedly sat on the committee that reviews complaints against attorneys?
Mr. Colson was not just randomly picked. He was a competing escrow company for A&O. Investors sent money through Colson’s Houston office to purchase A&O. I’m sure Laura and John didn’t like that. Maybe that’s why Mr. M. possibly knew that Colson was under investigation and that the little escrow there was, would “disappear.”
Is there still a REAL investor out there that doesn’t believe that this was a fraud from the start? Aren’t you amazed at how long it takes for any action to be taken against the conspirators of this crime?
Did anyone purchase CWH (Consolidated Wealth Holdings) or CWM? Didn’t they use PCI as a re-insurer?
I wonder if Marwil will follow Collins who was prepared for a 2004 exam of the Spaldings. If Marwil does move this back to Texas, it most certainly will cast a shadow.
Ok, who'll be the first to try that number for Wahab...not sure what I'd say if he did answer, maybe ask for our money back?
According to court docs, Marwil opposes moving the cases to Texas, so that may be a good thing. Keeping things flowing in Illinois will avoid having to start from scratch with a whole new cast of characters here who don't even know about this situation.
If anyone does locate Wahab, please alert the rest of us in case we would like to send a message : )
Wow. I stumbled on this looking up an old dead beat Vernon Jones. Then i found all of this and i have been reviewing all of this for weeks. Amazing. First of all I have known Jones for a very long time. After reviewing all of this with a few friends and colleagues, it all makes sense. He is the big racist pig. If your not white your not right. I have reviewd the W case and have the following serious concerns:
1. Has anyone bother to look at the Audit it shows this guy Wahab put nearly $750,000.00 into this company more than he took out.....This doesn't look like a thief to me.
2. He is the only one out of the 3 Pricipals that has had everything taken away.( I know investors are happy, but let's think this through......what about the other 2 who are not of Arab Origin) Racial Profiling? Maybe....read on
3. The SEC Attorney on the case Has been Fired!!! He is the same idiot on the Mark Cuban Fiasco....( At least the SEC took proper action) way to go...
4. Oh by the way that SEC Attorney sent email's accidentally to the Auditing company to basically withold information to make the Principals of W look bad. ( I mean if you are going to try and screw someone over don't make a mistake) The SEC Attorney, Thompson Knight Attorney and the Reciever all had this plan to withold documents for over 4 months) I guess they will do anything to look good and make the other side look bad.To me it is amazing that the Thompson & Knight Attorney and the Grant Thornton Reciever have not been reprimanded.But who knows maybe there firms just care about the billing.....WOW it is alot.
Guys remember the SEC has a website to access almost all of the documents..But you can get the information if you really try. I am so amazed how they have destroyed this guy and left the others. This country has people from every ethnicity, but it seems we like to pick on the easy Targets. In the 70's and 80's it was everyone who was Chinese, Vietnamese, etc everyone from that region now we have turned to the Arabs.
This guy maybe a bad guy but it sure seems he is getting screwed. I hope everyone here reads this and actually takes a moment to think this through....It is a bad thing. If anyone Knows Jones , they know what he is capable of and how racist he is.... If Jones is reading this just a heads up for you to figure out who i am ... GOLF>>>You should know since we are suppose to be friends where my wife and her family are from....By the way Practice more you really need it.
Mr. Thomas,
I'm curious as to what sort of charges could be brought up on these guys. I mean specifically Wahab, Allmendinger and Oncale as it was these gentlemen who sold me my policy. Wahab acted as the agent and A&O as the policy managers. I'm trying to stay positive about getting some of my investment back, but as slow as all this is going I'm not going to hold my breath. I see these guys driving around town in their flashy Italian sports cars living in multi million dollar homes and it infuriates me to think my investment dollars paid for all that. At this point, I'd give up getting my money back to know these guys are going to be behind BARS. It sickens me to know that Mr. Oncale and Mr. Allmendinger are still out there making a living selling life settlements. How is this even possible? Why have their licences not been suspended? As guilty as Mr. Wahab is, Oncale and Allmendinger were the brains behind this scam and they seem to be avoiding any sort of justice. Why?
I have no insight in the status of any criminal investigation. Perhaps these guys will be charged, perhaps not. As to the specific charges, I am not sure. For lack of a better description, it would be for stealing investors' money. I assume that the charges would be fraud based.
To any investors following this thread, there's a conference call on 4/7 at 1 PM central time with Jeff Marwil to hear the latest. Go to the website, www.lifefundstrustee.com, to rsvp for the call. They're also taking questions in advance, to be answered on the call.
Regarding prosecutions, no one is talking, but I believe the postal service is involved, from the mail fraud angle. I haven't been able to get anything else out of anyone involved.
Informed, I believe you distorting several facts.
1. there are 2 simultaneous frauds: W Financial and A&O both with which Wahab was intimately involved. You must get your frauds straight.
2. the Wallens (2 of them) were similarly charged, I believe both are white. I don’t see any racial profiling, do you? A&O has not as yet seen legal action. Maybe Wahab will try and cop a plea agreement for a lesser sentence and turn on his buddies which should really infuriate you- now it’s reverse discrimination. 4 whites with longer sentences than the minority.
3. Wahab never lost his own money in either of these 2 frauds no matter how creative you get with the reports. If you want to look at accounting, look at Letha Sparks report and figure out how Wahab transferred $13,000,000 after the sale of the company to his attorney, Mackert’s IOLTA account during the time they supposedly sold the company to some foreign company. I’m sure if I were Blue Dymond and I just paid “supposedly”$3miilion for this fraud, I would want this guy to retain the signature on the corporate accounts and transfer that money for his own personal interest. They even spent the millions during an asset freeze!
4. The only point I agree with you is that of a concern how the receiver, the Fort Worth SEC and the judicial system handled the assets for W Financial when they were fully aware of the much larger A&O fraud. If the majority of the assets were bought with funds derived from A&O accounts, then those assets were related to A&O and NOT to W Financial.
5. You are way, way off base in claiming that Wahab got screwed. What is just punishment for these white collar crimes? Madoff didn’t shoot anyone. He didn’t pull a gun on anyone. People “gave” him their money. Let’s let him keep only 2 houses and let’s stop looking for all the money that he has hidden or what he tried to transfer. Do you think those investors had it coming to them? I think the $17.9 million fraud of W Financial and the over $100 million fraud of A&O warrants significant punishment. But I agree with your reasoning, why should only the principals be punished when there are a slew of willing accomplices who should be prosecuted as well.
6. What should blow your mind about this case is the issue with the Trustee. How a firm whose senior partner was affiliated with this fiasco, can “legally” solicit other investors to hold the senior partner harmless, then ousts the court appointed Trustee. While we are at it in changing healthcare, maybe it’s time to redo the legal system as well.
7. Please don’t use the term “maybe.” The A & O will come to justice. Your “friend,” Vernon Jones has absolutely nothing to do with A&O so don’t blame him for that. Mr. Wahab hasn’t begun to be punished and he couldn’t get enough time if you ask the nearly 700 “real investors” (remember, there are some not real investors).
8. I think Mr. Informed, you should start at the beginning of Mr. Thomas’ blog on A&O reading all the comments as well and see if you could become “more informed.”
9. You sound like one of those sales agents: “How was I to know?”
Amen, Mr. More Informed. I'm seriously wishing there was a way to stop Ms. Fritsche and Ms. Hood from ramrodding this whole case. The gullible investors who turned their proxies over to that law firm have further damaged our chances at recovering any of our money, in my humble opinion. The fox is now guarding the henhouse, and our only recourse will be through the court system once our contracts have officially been breached. We may never get more than a judgment if the assets continue to fall away.
Everyone is so informed and knows everything. I just want my money back. What happen to Stephen colson and Prestige....Did someone ask him to steal A&O money and everyother company he stole from ....like 20 M.... Why is the trustee not up his butt. Wahab with W looks like no thief to me after reviewing informeds info, yet more informed is thinking differently. I have asked friends at the DOJ and the W deal is a big mess!!! what thief puts in nearly 750k in extra...not a thief to me. The whole SEC guy and reciever and the Attorney i hear are being looked into. But back to A&O were my problems are how does PCI say that the bond has not been paid for when it had to be paid in advanced.bullxxxx. colson/prestige stealing the money? Also if the pricipals are thiefes help me understand why there was over 6 months of extra premiums in 1 policy... Call me ignorant, but if they had extra cash in some policies werent there intentions maybe good. I don't know anymore i just want my money. Also let;s hope the new trustee doesnt need to be in the spotlight and depreciate the industry and our assets. I know he is a good guy but likes to be in the media.Also i know there are about 20 of us who have got together that are being represented by Fritsch that are working with the regulators and a new law firm , because they royally screwed us- if anyone wants to join showing the true colors of the spauldings and osbornes let us know. They have made us sign these documents and have caged us in like rats, they knew PCI couldnt do business in texas and ran to missouri to circumvent the law. These are ultimate devils who think because 3 out of the 4 of them are lawyers they are bigger than the law. I am told they are going to be looking into them very hard. No offense against lawyers but this is ridicolous. Also we have the new firm looking into the bayou city E&O as they should have held a policy and the law firm is seeing if they broke any portion of the agreement to make a claim. This could be big,Plus as Attorneys they should have E&O insurance. Not saying these A&O principals aren't bad .....But we will find out more .
It would be nice if the trustee could also be in charge of criminal prosecution on this, but if I'm not mistaken, his only function is to preserve the remaining assets of the bankrupt entities, and maximize recovery by creditors. Prosecution of the principals for criminal activity will have to be handled elsewhere, hopefully with evidence provided by the investigation of this bankruptcy case. They should be able to get these guys on mail fraud if nothing else, since much of the activities were handled through the US Postal Service. We all want our money back, but I think the best we can hope for is pennies on the dollar at this point. Most of what's left will go to the attorneys trying to untangle the mess I'm afraid.
To all interested investors: There's a link to a recording of last week's conference call on the life funds trustee website now. It's about 15 minutes long, and updates the situation. My impression is that Jeff Marwil is on the same page Patrick Collins was as trustee, and I have a better comfort level than I did before.
Dear screwed,
Are you a real investor or one of the many sales people who also “bought” this product? How could you be attempting to recruit investors for Fritsche (don’t forget the the e is long like bitchie)? Look at Ms. Hood’s letter to investors in the initial recruiting letter.
Hood used Johnson Spalding letterhead. Later, this law firm declares that they removed Spalding some 9 months previously. I find it difficult at best to believe they were just trying to run out old stationery some nine months later. Spalding is still listed on the Johnson Trent website as “of counsel.” Yet you suggest others hire this same law firm – for what purpose? What do you mean going after Bayou City, Spaldings and the Osbornes? You signed a waiver to hold harmless the list of individuals which including the Spaldings-‘cause they were “duped” investors, just like “us.” Fritsche is listed as an attorney with Johnson Trent. Are you saying that she left that firm and is now actually pursuing the Spaldings? Why then is she still listed as an attorney with the firm. I hope your not screwed and confused, that’s a bad combination. I do think that some of those not so real investors were being represented by Fritsche and Hood, are you one of them?
Do you understand that all of the life insurance policies should have had several million dollars in their cash value, I’ll take a guess, at 15% of $100,000,000 which is $15,000,000. The escrowed premiums, say $10-15 million would be in addition to this figure. The owners did screw us when they paid the premiums from cash value thus making the policies worthless going forward. You seem surprised that that one has a little cash value left. I think they are $25-30 million short yet I won’t call you ignorant. So before you get too much lipstick on your life-size picture of Wahab, remember Wahab asserted his 5th amendment rights in the W Financial FRAUD and that Wahab was convicted of felony forgery and certainly never should have been associated with any “security.” What did you mean by depreciate the industry? Fraud is rampant in this industry! Are you in this industry? I looked up what More Informed said about Wahab transferring millions of dollars to his attorney’s account. Wahab never attended LSU as he claimed. Did he have a college education? Are you suggesting that between Wahab’s forgery and the W Financial fraud, Wahab became a legitimate millionaire and put $750 thousand (after tax?) of his own money into another fraud? What did you say about ignorant?
Oh come on you guys... why bother to write to "Mr. Screwed"? Can we show a round of hands that believe user name "Screwed" is Adley Wahab??? Yes Mr. Wahab, you are "screwed"!
Our best strategy is to wait until the contracts have actually been breached, i.e., they don't pay off as scheduled, and sue the firm or individual who sold this junk to us for fraud. Anyone who had a securities license and sold this stuff worked for a firm who's responsible for their actions, whether they knew about them or not. When the bankruptcy is finalized, all bets are off, and it's full steam ahead.
I am an investor or "sucker" for investing my retirement with A & O and Houston Tanglewood Partners in a 4,000.000. life settlement. I invested 1,000,000. and I am so angry that crooks like A & O are going free. At least Patrict Collins brought charges against the group of them and what will happen to that now is anyone's guess.
My question is about the jerk that sold the policy to me - Gary Colburn, he didn't have a securities license ...
Will his E & O policy still be valid if he had licenses to sell insurance???? If anyone knows, please let me know... It was still fraud...
In addition, I don't know who voted for the new Trustee but I NEVER received a notice or letter about permission to change trustees. Who was in charge of that??? That isn't right. It seems it was railroaded through to get Marwil in, yet Collins in his short tenure, filed charges against the crooks and got judgements against the "BOND COMPANY" (11,000,000.00) AS WELL AS JUDGEMENTS AGAINST Wahab also. What about Chris and Brent of (A & O) and Colson who stole the escrow money???? THEY ALL NEED TO GO TO JAIL FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES....) and if Marwil does his job AS THE BANKRUPTCY TRUSEE he has to GO AFTER THEM TO GET THE ASSETS SO WE CAN GET SOME OF OUR MONEY BACK...
Now we are stuck with policies that it is almost if not impossible to make the payments on and therefore we will lose everything.
Please respond..
I talked with the Texas Securities Board investigator on this case regarding the change of trustee. According to bankruptcy court rules, only 20% of the affected investors are required to vote for a replacement. The group of investors represented by Hood and Fritsche got this done by giving these ladies and their law firm their proxies I believe. Anyway, the wishes of all the hundreds of other investors involved were not considered or asked for. That's how we ended up with Mr. Marwil, who had to start over, although Mr. Collins' office facilitated the transition with class and respect as I understand it. I'm with you...we just want some of our money back. Who knows how long it will take for this case to be resolved, and how much of the cash will be left. We supported Mr. Collins too, but no one seemed to care.