Greg Lindberg, an insurance mogul who was once North Carolina’s biggest political donor, pleaded guilty Tuesday to money laundering and fraud charges for his role in a $2 billion scheme that harmed thousands of policyholders, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Federal prosecutors said Lindberg conspired to defraud insurance regulators, policyholders and other insurance companies by laundering money through a web of companies based in North Carolina, Bermuda, Malta, and elsewhere. The scheme sought to conceal the true financial condition of Lindberg’s companies, and he improperly used insurance company funds for his personal benefit, the Justice Department said.
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A lawyer for Lindberg didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment late Tuesday.
Lindberg, who now lives in Tampa, conspired with others in the scheme, the department said. They caused companies he controlled to invest more than $2 billion in loans and other securities with his own affiliated companies and laundered the proceeds of the scheme, prosecutors alleged.
Lindberg directed the scheme and personally benefited from the fraud in part by forgiving more than $125 million in loans to himself from the insurance companies that he controlled, according to the Justice Department. Lindberg and others also made materially false and misleading statements and representations to and omitted material information from regulators, ratings agencies, insurance companies, policyholders, and others, the department alleged.
As a result, Lindberg’s policyholders suffered substantial financial hardship, the department said, noting that some of his insurance companies have been placed in rehabilitation and liquidation.
“Lindberg’s actions harmed thousands of policyholders, deceived regulators, and caused tremendous risk for the insurance industry,” Dena J. King, U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, said in a statement Tuesday. “Today’s guilty plea affirms our commitment to protecting the public from predatory financial schemes and bringing to justice those who betray public trust for personal gain.”
Lindberg pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, including wire fraud, investment adviser fraud, and crimes in connection with insurance business, and one count of money laundering conspiracy, according to the Justice Department. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States count and 10 years in prison on the money laundering conspiracy count, prosecutors said.
A federal jury in Charlotte previously convicted Lindberg of wire fraud charges as part of a scheme involving independent expenditure accounts and improper campaign contributions, aimed at bribing the North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance Mike Causey to influence the regulation of Lindberg's insurance companies, the Justice Department said.
A federal district court judge will determine Lindberg’s sentence in both cases. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
In December 2022, one of Lindberg’s top executives, Christopher Herwig, pleaded guilty in a related case to fraud and money laundering charges. Herwig is also awaiting sentencing, the department said.