A businessman at the center of a massive North Carolina insurance fraud and bribery scheme has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison.
Federal prosecutors say 56-year-old Greg Lindberg of Tampa, Florida, founder and chairman of Eli Global LLC and owner of Global Bankers Insurance Group, orchestrated conspiracies that defrauded insurance companies, regulators and policyholders out of billions of dollars.
According to court documents, Lindberg and his co-conspirators concealed the true financial condition of insurance companies he controlled and improperly used company funds for personal gain. Prosecutors say companies linked to Lindberg invested more than $2 billion into loans and securities tied to his affiliated businesses in North Carolina, Bermuda, Malta and elsewhere.
Authorities say Lindberg personally benefited by forgiving more than $125 million in loans to himself while using insurance company funds to support a lavish lifestyle that included private jets, mansions and a 200-foot luxury yacht.
Federal officials also say Lindberg took part in a bribery conspiracy involving the North Carolina Department of Insurance. Prosecutors say Lindberg and others provided millions of dollars in campaign contributions and other items of value in exchange for favorable official action involving oversight of his insurance companies.
The sentencing comes months after North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey publicly urged President Donald Trump not to pardon Lindberg. In a December 2025 letter, Causey described Lindberg’s actions as deliberate and aimed at corrupting the state’s regulatory system for personal gain.
Causey said Lindberg was recorded during an 18-month FBI investigation attempting to bribe him in his official role as insurance commissioner. According to Causey, Lindberg sought the removal of a senior Department of Insurance official after financial improprieties were uncovered within Lindberg’s insurance companies.
Officials say the scheme caused significant financial hardship for insurance companies and policyholders, with thousands of victims still collectively owed more than $1 billion.
Lindberg pleaded guilty in November 2024 to conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States and conspiracy to commit money laundering. In May 2024, a federal jury convicted him on bribery and honest services wire fraud conspiracy charges.
The FBI Charlotte Field Office investigated the case.