Greg Lindberg plea deal reached on federal fraud charges

Greg Lindberg is scheduled to accept a plea deal to satisfy fraud charges Tuesday in a North Carolina courtroom, according to court documents.

The deal would terminate one of the many civil and criminal cases against Lindberg. Details of the plea agreement were sealed by the Western District of North Carolina.

The 48-page indictment handed down by a federal grand jury in February 2023 accuses Lindberg and two co-conspirators of illegally siphoning vast amounts of money from Lindberg's insurance companies for his personal use, then lying to regulators to hide their $2 billion scheme.

“The indictment reveals a carefully orchestrated scheme that relied on a web of complex financial investments and transactions designed to evade regulators, disguise the financial health of Lindberg’s insurance companies, and conceal the alleged purpose of the scheme: Lindberg’s personal gain,” said U.S. Attorney Dena J. King at the time of the indictment. “People buy insurance products to provide comfort and security. However, this indictment alleges this was a sophisticated and intricate scheme designed for one reason, to benefit Lindberg."

Lindberg is specifically charged with one count each of conspiracy to defraud the United States, money laundering conspiracy, and wire fraud; four counts of making false insurance business statements to regulators; and six counts of making false entries about the financial conditions or solvency of an insurance business.

The case was investigated by the Charlotte office of the FBI.

The money laundering and wire fraud charges alone carry maximum punishment of 20 years in prison; the conspiracy to defraud the government count, to 10 years.

Long case list

In December 2022, one of Lindberg’s top executives, Christopher Herwig, pleaded guilty in a related case to conspiring with Lindberg and others to commit wire fraud, investment advisor fraud, and money laundering, as well as to the making of false statements in the business of insurance.

Convicted in 2020 on bribery and fraud charges, along with associate John Gray, Lindberg served 633 days behind bars before the conviction was vacated due to improper jury instructions. Lindberg and Gray were convicted a second time in May and face 30 years in prison.

Prosecutors say Lindberg and Gray gave, offered, and promised Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey millions of dollars in campaign contributions and other things of value in exchange for the removal of his senior deputy commissioner, who was responsible for overseeing the regulation and the periodic examination of Lindberg’s Global Bankers Insurance Group.

On June 27, 2019, Southland National Insurance Corp., Colorado Bankers Life Insurance Co., Bankers Life Insurance Co. and Southland National Reinsurance Corp. – all owned by Lindberg – were placed in rehabilitation by order of the Superior Court of Wake County, North Carolina.

Since then, regulators have worked to unwind the complex financial web of companies and accounts controlled by Lindberg. InsuranceNewsNet wrote about the mysterious receivership process in July 2022.

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InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.