DURHAM, N.C. (February 24, 2023) – In response to the latest charges filed against Greg Lindberg in the Western District of North Carolina, Susan Estrich, spokesperson for Greg Lindberg, issued the following statement:
“The Government is piling on. Their previous case against Greg Lindberg was built on lies and collapsed on appeal when the Court found his rights were violated.
Greg was wrongly convicted, his constitutional rights were violated, and he was sent to prison even though he did not ask for any official action, only for fair regulation, as he will prove when he is retried in November.
North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey made 107 attempts to coerce Greg into giving him a campaign donation. During that entire time – not knowing he was being recorded by the FBI — Greg consistently responded in this manner:
• “We’re gonna do it right. And we’re gonna do it with every single piece of law out there.”
• “If you and your advisors can figure out any other way for me to help you out, I’m happy to do it. It just has to be compliant.”
• “I don’t know election law well enough. All I know is I give money to NCGOP, that’s compliant. And if they give money to you, that’s compliant.”
As the above statements clearly show, Greg is a law-abiding businessman. The above is what he said not knowing anyone was listening. He was trying to respond to an insurance commissioner’s aggressive demands for campaign donations. That insurance commissioner – Mike Causey — just happened to have a political vendetta against Greg because he supported Causey’s opponent in the 2016 election. Causey admitted to one of his staffers that he pursued Greg because Greg supported his opponent in the 2016 election.
Given these facts, the prosecution knows that it has a very weak case. That is why they filed more charges against Greg. They are looking for insurance against losing come November, which is what is going to happen. But these latest charges do not stand up.
The latest charges stem from the government’s spending over five years going through over 7 million documents on literally thousands of complicated financial transactions involving over 900 companies and handpicking alleged technical violations which have not caused any loss to policyholders in North Carolina or any other state for that matter.
The reason the insurance companies are in rehabilitation has nothing to do with these charges. It is because Mike Causey, the Insurance Commissioner, used the FBI to create the smoke and then set the fire. The whole investigation was triggered by a lie about a contribution that was never made. Mike Causey was so determined not to lose the election for insurance commissioner for the sixth time that he set about to try to entrap Greg Lindberg.
Mike Causey knew that if you can’t get financing, you can’t do business, when you have the FBI at the door. He even gleefully wrote to the FBI that “things are closing in on Greg Lindberg.” What kind of an insurance commissioner wants to intentionally harm the owner of the largest life insurance group in his state? A politically motivated one.
The real estate transactions involved here are properties where Greg Lindberg never spent a single night, and where Mr. Lindberg’s North Carolina insurance companies have already been made whole on these loans.
“I invested over $500 million in my insurance companies. I never took a penny of dividends. The allegation that I somehow defrauded them while investing $500 million in them and taking no dividends is entirely absurd,” said Lindberg.
“I also hired over 100 investment professionals, lawyers, and accountants and spent tens of millions of dollars on their compensation to ensure that insurance reserves were invested according to the affiliate loan compliance plan that I personally drafted,” said Lindberg. This detailed affiliate loan compliance plan mandated that the insurance investment team follow a whole series of processes to comply with the laws and regulations governing these loans, said Lindberg.
“In this compliance plan I appointed six individuals to the clearly defined Investment Compliance Department and Insurance Investment Underwriting Team. I was not one of those individuals,” said Lindberg.
“I continue to be amazed the government has based their entire case on the false claims of Mike Causey,” Lindberg says. “Mike Causey’s abuse of power for his own political gain is the real problem here,” says Lindberg. “His actions have harmed policyholders and have caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damages to the companies that policyholders are relying on to back their policies,” says Lindberg.
About Greg Lindberg
Greg Lindberg is a successful entrepreneur, philanthropist and author. Through his successful career, Lindberg has reimagined and transformed hundreds of businesses, employed thousands of people, empowered leaders and impacted communities through philanthropic efforts. His experiences as a leader and challenges have inspired him to empower people to achieve optimal success through wellness, longevity and leadership. Lindberg also has authored two books: Failing Early & Failing Often: How to Turn Your Adversity into Advantage and 633 Days Inside: Lessons on Life and Leadership. For more information, visit GregLindberg.com.