Greg E. Lindberg, Bribery, North Carolina 2017

A federal jury in Charlotte has convicted Greg E. Lindberg, a 53-year-old Durham businessman, and his consultant, John D. Gray, 73, of Chapel Hill, of orchestrating a brazen bribery scheme that sought to influence the Commissioner of Insurance in North Carolina.

The scheme, carried out from April 2017 to August 2018, involved independent expenditure committees and improper campaign contributions worth millions of dollars. Lindberg and Gray promised the Commissioner millions in exchange for the removal of the Senior Deputy Commissioner, who oversaw the regulation of Lindberg’s company, Global Bankers Insurance Group (GBIG).

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Lindberg and Gray held numerous meetings with the Commissioner and their co-defendant, Robert Cannon Hayes, 78, of Concord, to discuss the bribery plan. To conceal the scheme, Lindberg funded two corporate entities with $1.5 million to form independent expenditure committees supporting the Commissioner’s re-election campaign.

Hayes, who pleaded guilty in October 2019 to making false statements to the FBI, was implicated in the scheme after Lindberg and Gray directed him to transfer $250,000 from a North Carolina state party account to the Commissioner’s re-election campaign.

“The defendants planned and executed an intricate scheme involving substantial campaign contributions to an elected official in exchange for favorable treatment,” said U.S. Attorney Dena J. King. “This was not a lapse in judgment. It was a calculated bribery attempt and a blatant violation of federal law.”

Lindberg and Gray face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine their sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The FBI Charlotte Field Office investigated the case, which has sent shockwaves through the business community in North Carolina.

The conviction marks a major victory for the Justice Department in its ongoing effort to root out public corruption in North Carolina. “Greg Lindberg and John Gray knowingly ignored the difference between legal political donations and felonious bribery,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert M. DeWitt. “They thought they could buy changes to North Carolina Department of Insurance personnel to benefit Lindberg’s businesses. The FBI will work tirelessly to root out any and all forms of public corruption.”

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