A court-appointed special master has recommended roughly $1.6 bn in restitution for victims of the insurance fraud scheme tied to Greg Lindberg, according to a detailed memorandum.
The filing describes a long-running scheme in which Lindberg and related entities allegedly diverted policyholder funds, misstated financial conditions to regulators, and used insurer assets for personal benefit.
Lindberg pleaded guilty in November 2024 to orchestrating a $2 bn insurance fraud. Earlier, in May 2024, he was convicted again in a separate case involving an attempt to bribe North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, according to InsuranceNewsNet.
He has remained at the Gaston County Jail since November 12, 2024. Federal prosecutors are not opposing a request from Lindberg’s lawyers to split the sentencing hearing from the restitution proceedings.
The restitution fight comes after a February civil ruling that ordered Lindberg to pay $526 mn to policyholders in a lawsuit first filed in October 2019 by life insurers he previously owned.
Those companies were Southland National Insurance Corp., Bankers Life Insurance Co., Colorado Bankers Life Insurance Co., and Southland National Reinsurance Corp.
The special master’s report is meant to narrow the field. It focuses on which parties qualify for restitution and how losses should be measured, with the goal of cutting through what could turn into a messy sentencing phase.
At the center of the scheme, according to the memo, was the movement of money from insurance companies into entities controlled by Lindberg, with those transactions concealed along the way.
The result, the filing says, was severe financial damage at several insurers, leaving policyholders, creditors, and related companies exposed.
In February, North Carolina’s insurance commissioner says the White House hasn’t responded, three weeks after he urged the president to reject a pardon for twice-convicted insurance entrepreneur Greg Lindberg.
In a letter to President Donald Trump, Commissioner Mike Causey argued Lindberg’s conduct went far beyond technical violations. He described it as deliberate and sustained, aimed at corrupting a state regulatory system designed to protect the public, and to enrich one person.
Mr. Lindberg’s criminal conduct was not incidental, technical, or victimless. It was deliberate, sustained, and directly aimed at corrupting a state regulatory system charged with protecting the public in order to enrich himselfMike Causey, Insurance Commissioner
Causey’s view carries weight. He wore a wire, recorded a conversation, and that evidence helped secure Lindberg’s bribery conviction in 2020 and again after a retrial in 2024.
The special master concluded restitution should go to companies and policyholders directly harmed by the conduct laid out in the indictment. Other people seeking payment, the memo says, included Lindberg’s former wife, one or more girlfriends, creditors, former business partners, and what the filing described as disgruntled investors.
The memo said Lindberg agreed to full restitution, though a clear link must still exist between the claimed loss and the conduct charged in the indictment.
According to the filing, those other claimants failed to show a connection between their alleged damages and the crimes described in the case.
The deepest losses sit with Lindberg’s North Carolina insurers placed into rehabilitation or liquidation. Colorado Bankers Life Insurance Co. reported a deficit of more than $1 bn. Bankers Life Insurance Co. showed a shortfall of about $240 mn. Southland National Insurance Co. posted a deficit of roughly $144 mn.
The memo also points to heavy losses among Bermuda-based insurers tied to Lindberg’s network, including Northstar Financial Services, Omnia Ltd., and PB Life and Annuity Co.
Policyholder liabilities total about $2.8 bn. That includes $1.8 bn tied to the North Carolina insurance companies as of February 16 and another $1 bn tied to the Bermuda insurance companies as of December 31, 2025.
The filing also said policyholder claims not eligible for statutory guaranty association benefits had already been fully paid by the special master, using about $157 mn from primary restitution assets. Those amounts were excluded from the $2.8 bn liability figure.
Another fight is still hanging over the case. Entities tied to the Bermuda insurers argue they should get paid only after all other victims are fully compensated.
Guaranty associations representing policyholders say they should share the same priority. That issue remains open.
The special master rejected several rival methods for calculating losses and instead backed a formula based on unpaid loan balances, described as affiliate investments, plus an interest component tied to the time value of money.
Using that method, the filing puts total restitution at about $1.625 bn. The largest recommended amounts go to Colorado Bankers Life at $821 mn, PB Life and Annuity, including obligations tied to Universal Life Insurance Co., at $406 mn, Northstar Financial Services at $159 mn, and Southland National Insurance at $131 mn. Other affiliated entities would receive smaller amounts.
A federal judge has approved the distribution of funds from the $318 mn sale of Clanwilliam Group, an Irish software company formerly owned by Greg Lindberg, marking a major step toward restitution in the long-running fraud case.
Special master Joseph W. Grier III submitted the motion, identifying the Clanwilliam sale as a key restitution asset.
According to court filings, the sale closed following regulatory approval and the resolution of related lawsuits. The July 22 court order granted the motion, confirming all closing conditions had been met.
Lindberg disputes the inclusion of interest in the calculation, according to the memo.
The filing estimates primary assets under court control could generate between $1.16 bn and $1.88 bn toward restitution. Even at the top end, full recovery is not guaranteed.
The special master is asking the court to issue a preliminary restitution order identifying eligible victims and their losses now, while leaving the tougher questions over payment priority and distribution for later.
According to Beinsure analysts, that approach looks built to keep the case moving without letting the payout fight swallow the sentencing process.
