A North Carolina billionaire who reportedly sought to father as many as 50 children with “Aryan”-looking women was sentenced this week to 12 years in prison for a sprawling fraud scheme that siphoned more than $2 billion from insurance companies.
Greg Lindberg, 55, spent roughly $30 million on private jets, $21 million “in connection with various women” and another $12 million on yacht expenses while looting insurer cash meant to protect retirees and policyholders, according to federal prosecutors.
News of his sentencing was reported Tuesday by the Charlotte Observer.
Bloomberg News found Lindberg ran what insiders described as a bizarre “baby project” while federal authorities closed in on his insurance empire.
The December 2024 report alleged Lindberg sought to father as many as 50 children through a sprawling network of egg donors and surrogates — and specifically pursued women with “blonde” and “blue-eyed” looks that former associates described as “Aryan.”
Bloomberg reported that at least 25 women were tied to the operation, with some alleging they were manipulated or deceived into donating eggs that Lindberg used after being told they would go to anonymous infertile couples.
One woman alleged Lindberg pressured her into IVF treatments by threatening to abandon her if she refused.
She later signed paperwork waiving parental rights, only to allegedly lose contact with her biological child after a surrogate gave birth, according to the report.
The Bloomberg investigation also found Lindberg, a father of 12 children, spent lavishly to recruit women through yacht parties, matchmaking services and luxury events while operating a surveillance apparatus that conducted background checks and monitoring on prospective romantic partners.
He denied wrongdoing and later sued Bloomberg’s reporters for defamation, according to the report.
The defamation lawsuit was dismissed last year by a federal judge in Florida.
The Durham businessman shelled out more than $15.4 million in direct payments to women, over $2 million on matchmaking and dating services, $1.6 million on housing-related payments for women and another $1.3 million on party planners hired to host events designed to help him meet romantic partners, according to court filings.
Lindberg made his fortune by building a sprawling insurance and investment empire through Eli Global and a web of affiliated companies that included insurers such as Colorado Bankers Life Insurance, Bankers Life Insurance and Southland National Insurance.
Prosecutors said he raided insurance companies that held retirement savings and annuities for thousands of middle-class customers, then concealed the scheme through sham loans, circular transactions and false financial statements.
Federal prosecutors separately alleged Lindberg used insurer money to fund yacht trips to Ibiza, Spain, private-jet travel, luxury Manhattan condos and surveillance firms hired to monitor women he “had or sought to have a personal relationship” with.
US District Judge Max Cogburn Jr. handed down the sentence in Charlotte federal court after Lindberg pleaded guilty in the sprawling insurance-fraud case and was separately convicted in a bribery scheme targeting North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey.
With four years in jail-time credit, Lindberg will be released in 2034 after he serves eight years, according to courtroom proceedings.
At sentencing, prosecutors said roughly 30,000 victims died before recovering money tied to the scheme.
“Most of Lindberg’s victims were middle class folks who wanted a safe place to put their hard-earned retirement savings,” prosecutors wrote.
One victim couldn’t pay for her murdered son’s funeral, prosecutors said. Another family lost access to more than $600,000 in savings while their daughter underwent cancer treatment.
Assistant US Attorney Lyndie Freeman told the court Lindberg owed approximately 2,000 policyholders, as well as $1 billion to insurance companies in Puerto Rico.
Defense attorneys said Lindberg already paid roughly $1 billion in restitution — which they described as one of the largest restitution payments in US history.
Lindberg apologized in court, saying: “I am deeply regretful and apologize to the policyholders. They didn’t sign up for this.”
He did not address the bribery scheme in his remarks.
Prosecutors noted Lindberg’s attempts to portray himself as a financial visionary.
“Lindberg liked to claim he was the next Warren Buffett,” they wrote, “but he was much closer to being the next Marty Frankel or Doug Cassity, two notorious insurance fraudsters.”
Court filings also revealed bizarre personal notes in which he discussed becoming worth $100 billion, living to age 120, “longevity research” and cloning.
The Post has sought comment from Lindberg.
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