I received sad new today for A&O Life investors. Last week the company and related entities filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Illinois. Here are the petitions filed by A&O Life and A&O Resources. Also filing bankruptcy were A&O Bonded Life Assets and A&O Bonded Life Settlements. It appears that the companies’ creditors are their “investors.” Russell Mackert is listed on the forms as being involved in the filings. Needless to say, I am not surprised.
I am not in a position to provide legal advice to A&O investors. However, I can tell you that if I were an A&O investor I would be hiring an investment fraud lawyer in the area where an agent sold me the investment and I would sue the agent(s) who sold it to me. If A&O was a big scam it’s going to be like the Madoff scandal where the investors are not able to recover their money from A&O. The agents who sold the policies, however, will likely have insurance coverage that will cover a claim against the agent. If I were an investor, I would also be raising hell with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice.
Here is a list of people associated with A&O who I believe to be agents who sold the investments for the company. If you are an agent and are on this list and feel like that you are also a victim of A&O, then I am sorry. But you are partially responsible for putting your clients in these investments and in my opinion, you should be held liable for your role. People have gone to jail in Mississippi for acting as agents in what turned out to be investment fraud schemes. What happened here to A&O investors is an example of why agents and brokers carry liability insurance.