A political action committee funded by mega-donor Greg Lindberg, and specifically mentioned in Lindberg's federal bribery indictment, forfeited more than $475,000 to the U.S. Department of Justice shortly after the indictment was filed, new campaign finance records show.
N.C. Growth and Prosperity is a PAC that Lindberg and his team created last year, and its political purpose was never publicly clear. But the treasurer was John Palermo, a Lindberg associate indicted by a federal grand jury in March along with Lindberg, then-North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes and another Lindberg associate named John Gray.
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All four are accused of trying to funnel bribe money to state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, who was cooperating with federal investigators. All four have pleaded not guilty, and a trial is tentatively slated for September.
The indictment was filed March 18, though it remained sealed until April 2. On April 1, Growth and Prosperity forfeited $475,629.82 to the federal government, according to campaign finance paperwork filed this month with the State Board of Elections.
The deadline for filings covering the first half of this year comes Friday, and reports are rolling in from various political groups. The payout is listed in the group's campaign paperwork as "legal order debit - US Department of Justice," and an attachment indicates that the payment zeroed out a Wells Fargo bank account in the PAC's name.
The paperwork also indicates that the payout, along with $975 in payments to Ridgefield Consulting in Pittsboro left the PAC with no money.
The indictment indicates that the feds were interested in seizing $1.5 million from the PAC, held in a pair of Wells Fargo accounts. Palermo didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday. The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuting this case and the FBI have repeatedly declined to comment.
Growth and Prosperity is not to be confused with Truth & Prosperity, a PAC supporting Lt. Gov. Dan Forest in his 2020 run for governor. Lindberg, a Durham businessman, donated $1 million to that group in late 2017.
Truth & Prosperity and other groups that have gotten large donations from Lindberg have said they plan to keep his money despite the indictment on bribery charges. He's the largest single donor to groups supporting Forest and the largest donor in North Carolina politics, having given more than $5 million in recent years.
Most of that money went to Republicans, though Lindberg also gave $750,000 to the North Carolina Democratic Party, though some of that came from one of his companies. He also supported Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Goodwin's unsuccessful re-election campaign for insurance commissioner in 2016.
Growth and Prosperity started soon after Palermo shut down the N.C. Opportunity Committee, a PAC that had supported Goodwin's re-election.