Lindberg Claims Buyer for Carolina Insurance Companies, But Liquidation Has Begun

North Carolina insurance executive and reported billionaire Greg Lindberg, now awaiting a second trial on bribery charges, says he has a buyer for his troubled insurance companies. But state regulators point out that liquidation proceedings have already begun.

As of this week, North Carolina Department of Insurance officials were reviewing Lindberg’s stock-purchase proposal.

“It will be reviewed to determine if it meets the requirements of North Carolina law and is in the best interests of policyholders,” said DOI Communications Director Jason Tyson. “In the meantime we will continue moving forward with a plan to get policyholders access to their policies through liquidation.”

State Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey announced in late November that a court had approved the liquidation of Colorado Bankers Life Insurance Co. and Bankers Life Insurance Co., two companies once owned by Lindberg. Hours later, an investment firm founded by Lindberg said it objected to the liquidation, arguing that the companies could be sold and benefits paid more quickly.

On Tuesday, Lindberg’s high-wattage public relations effort, which includes a former TV news commentator and author, put out a news release: Universal Financial Holdings LLC has agreed to purchase stock in all four of Lindberg’s Carolina-based insurance companies, allowing them to exit rehabilitation.

The sale will provide more than $337 million in capital and surplus, Lindberg said.

“The buyer group is backed by reinsurance from an investment firm with over $1 billion in capital under management and includes a well-respected former insurance regulator,” Lindberg said in the statement.

Universal Financial Holdings does not appear to be related to Universal Insurance Holdings, the Florida-based parent of Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Co.

Regulators have said that Lindberg had siphoned millions of dollars from some of his insurance companies, investing the assets in his other companies, but leaving the insurers in dire condition and unable to pay policyholders. In May, a judge ordered Lindberg to give up control of the companies.

Topics Carriers Claims