A court in North Carolina has heard that the sale of overseas assets formerly controlled by an American fraudster will require the consent of insurance companies in Bermuda.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if the proceeds will benefit victims of his failed companies on the island, including Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda).

InsuranceNewsNet is reporting that the “special master assigned to unwind disgraced financier Greg Lindberg's maze of companies says the impending sale of one of them will yield up to $300 million for fraud victims”.

The special master identified an Irish healthcare software company to be disposed of, valued at $318 million.

The money is only a fraction of the amount Lindberg has been accused of misappropriating from a number of entities, including the Bermudian company, Northstar Financial, now in liquidation.

Founded in the 1990s, the investment vehicle offered fixed- and variable-rate annuity and investment products.

In 2018, Global Bankers, which was owned by Lindberg, acquired Northstar. The following year, he was indicted in the US on bribery and wire fraud charges, and was subsequently jailed.

That conviction was overturned in June 2022, but Lindberg was convicted a second time in May 2024 and awaits sentencing after guilty pleas to offences that included a $2 billion fraud and money laundering scheme.

The US Department of Justice said last November: “(The) Florida man pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit offences against the United States and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with a scheme to defraud insurance regulators and policyholders through a web of companies based in North Carolina, Bermuda, Malta and elsewhere.”

An official at the Justice Department said Lindberg and his co-conspirators misused $2 billion of company funds in their international scheme, leaving multiple companies in or on the brink of liquidation and bringing financial hardship to thousands of policyholders.

Meanwhile, when Northstar investors wanted their money, the Bermudian company was unable to pay. It was estimated to have incurred a deficit upwards of $260 million when it entered liquidation proceedings before the Bermuda Supreme Court.

Lawyers say Northstar investors likely were drawn to the tax benefits they were supposed to garner from investments based out of Bermuda. Many were told that they could expect Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) products to be CD-like, conservative and low risk. Instead, their decision to invest in Northstar's variable- and fixed-rate annuity products has caused many of them to lose money.