A hedge fund manager convicted of running a $100mn scheme that preyed on retired investors has been sentenced to 60 years in prison. Adley Abdulwahab, 36, was part owner of A&O Resource Management, which ran a family of hedge funds accused of cheating some 800 investors out of their savings. Earlier this week, his co-defendant and a founder of the firm, Christian Allmendinger, 40, received a 45-year sentence. The lengthy sentences highlight the fact that white-collar cases are being punished with increasing severity. This case also hits on two hot-button issues for prosecutors: the large amount of sums involved and the swindling of elderly customers. Indeed, over the last year, federal judges have imposed decades-long sentences on a string of nonviolent criminals. Lee Farkas, a former mortgage company executive, received a 30-year sentence earlier this year for a fraud scheme. Lawrence Duran fared even worse, getting a 50-year sentence for his role in a $205mn fraud. On Wednesday, Abdulwahab’s bid for leniency was overshadowed by several of his victims, who lined up to testify against the former hedge fund manager. After spending 23 years as a school teacher in Texas, Paula Higdon Whitaker invested $1mn with A&O, hoping to set aside enough money to support her son, who suffered from mental disabilities. She lost her entire investment in the scheme. The nature of A&O’s scheme, prosecutors say, was to buy life insurance policies with funding from investors like Ms. Whitaker. When the policy holders died, investors were expected to reap some of the payout - i.e., Life Settlement contracts. But A&O executives, according to prosecutors, siphoned off the funds to cover personal expenses - luxury homes, cars and a 15-karat diamond ring.  The company also was accused of inflating its past returns and misrepresenting the risks of the investment.  For his part, prosecutors say Abdulwahab, who was convicted in June, misled investors into thinking he had an economics degree.    [Dealbook, 9/28/11]