An American insurance mogul who set up shop in Malta in 2014 was this week charged by US prosecutors with wire fraud and bribery, the Times of Malta has learnt.

Greg Lindberg was named in an indictment along with North Carolina State Republican Party chairman Robin Hayes and two other associates.

“The indictment unsealed today [Tuesday] outlines a brazen bribery scheme in which Greg Lindberg and his co-conspirators allegedly offered hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in exchange for official action that would benefit Lindberg’s business interests”, the assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s criminal division said in a statement.

Relentlessly investigate and prosecute corruption

Mr Lindberg was associated with 10 companies set up in Malta between 2014 and 2017. The Maltese companies were not mentioned in the US indictment.

Asked whether any regulatory action would be taken, a spokesman for the Malta Financial Services Authority said that, once the relevant investigations were concluded, the financial watchdog would take the necessary action based on the intelligence and evidence assembled.

Details of the investigation could not be disclosed due to confidentiality reasons, the spokesman said.

One of Mr Lindberg’s Maltese insurance companies, Standard Re, voluntarily surrendered its licence last December. The MFSA said the surrender was entirely voluntary and not the result of any regulatory action.

Another of his other companies, Standard Advisory Services, holds an MFSA investment licence.

According to the US indictment, Mr Lindberg and his co-defendants engaged in a bribery scheme for the purpose of causing the commissioner for insurance to take action favouring his company.

The lead FBI investigator in the case said the men involved devised a plan to use their connections to a political party to attempt to influence the operations and policies of the North Carolina department of insurance. In a bid to hide the bribery scheme, one of Mr Lindberg’s associates set up two corporate entities to anonymously funnel a promised €1.3 million to the commissioner for insurance to support his re-election campaign, the indictment alleges.

“Bribery of public officials at any level of government undermines confidence in our political system. The criminal division will use all the tools at our disposal, including the assistance of law-abiding public officials, to relentlessly investigate and prosecute corruption wherever we find it”, Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said.

All the suspects have denied the charges.