‘That’s a home run.’ How an FBI sting operation in NC caught an alleged bribe.
Insurance magnate Greg Lindberg wanted something from North Carolina insurance commissioner Mike Causey: for the commissioner to “move Jackie,” a regulator who Lindberg felt was tarnishing the reputation of his companies.
Causey — who was actually cooperating in a federal sting — said he wanted something in return: “money in the bank,” hundreds of thousands in campaign contributions.
On Monday, federal prosecutors introduced more secret recordings of conversations that get at the crux of their argument: that Lindberg and his associates attempted to funnel bribe money through the North Carolina Republican party to Causey’s reelection campaign.
Lindberg and associates John Gray and John Palermo, along with then-GOP Chairman Robin Hayes, were indicted last spring on charges that they attempted to bribe Causey.
Lindberg, a Durham billionaire, in recent years became one of North Carolina’s largest political donors. He owns Global Bankers Insurance Group, a managing company for several insurance and reinsurance companies.
Lindberg and his associates repeatedly told Causey in early 2018 that they were unhappy with Jackie Obusek, the deputy N.C. insurance commissioner responsible for overseeing Lindberg’s companies, according to conversations that Causey secretly recorded for the federal government. They contended Obusek was unjustly hurting the reputation of Lindberg’s companies and hampering their ability to make investments and acquisitions in other states.
Lindberg and Gray urged Causey to remove Obusek from overseeing Lindberg’s companies and replace her with a new regulator. By May 2018, they had settled on who they wanted for the job — another Department of Insurance regulator named Debbie Walker.
Causey traveled to Lindberg’s Durham home on May 29, 2018, wearing a clandestine recording device for the federal government. There, he met with Lindberg and Gray and began discussing two topics with them: moving Obusek and getting $500,000 that Lindberg had donated to the N.C Republican party funneled to Causey’s reelection campaign.
According to a recording played for the jury, the following exchange happened at that meeting:
Causey: “I haven’t seen anything directly to my benefit...I can move Jackie ...But I don’t wanna do anything ‘til ‘til we get … the money in the bank.”
Gray: “...If you’re willing to have Debbie Walker handle everything from Global Banking Insurance Group, then we’ll …
Lindberg: “We’ll put the money in the bank.”
Later in the meeting, Lindberg, Gray and Causey confirmed their understanding:
Gray: “So, do-do we, um. . . what do-what do with Debbie, um, Walker?”
Causey: “Well, I-I-I’ll make the switch when we get all this . . . “
Lindberg: “Get the check cleared.”
Commissioner: “. . . stuff there. Yeah. Get all this straight and I’ll make the switch.”
Lindberg: “That’s a homerun.”
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Two months later, at another recorded meeting attended by Lindberg, Gray and Causey, the three once again spelled out their understanding of the deal:
Gray: “Well you’re gonna have ten-thousand plus two-hundred fifty-thousand, quickly, if we have your assurance and a date certain by which the Debbie Walker staff realignment can occur, then the entirety of that will go right into your account.”
Causey: “...We’ll do two-fifty, then I’ll have it done, by the time we get the rest of it done I’ll have it done.”
Later in the conversation, Lindberg told Gray to call Hayes, the state GOP chair, and instruct him to: “get that check over to (Causey) now. And by the end of August we’ll get you the balance, and we’ll get Debbie Walker.”
Brandon McCarthy, one of the attorneys representing Lindberg, declined to discuss the case. But in a trial brief, Lindberg’s attorneys contended that Causey entrapped the defendants, essentially by inviting a bribe.
The defense lawyers pointed to a question that Causey asked during a February 2018 conversation with Lindberg at the Statesville airport. During that meeting, the three talked about having Causey hire Palermo — who was working for Lindberg at the time — to assume Obusek’s responsibility for overseeing Lindberg’s companies.
According to the government’s trial brief, Causey raised the possibility that such a job move could bring a spotlight on the department and cause him “a whole lot of grief.”
“I guess what I’m trying to say is what’s in it for me?” Causey asked.
In their trial brief, the defense lawyers said Causey had a strong motivation for entrapping Lindberg: The insurance company magnate was a major financial supporter of Causey’s chief political opponent — former insurance commissioner Wayne Goodwin, who Causey narrowly defeated in the 2016 election.
Lindberg donated at least $9,500 to Goodwin during the 2016 race, according to state records.
“The evidence will show that Mr. Causey, acting as the agent of federal law enforcement, consistently invited Mr. Lindberg to commit bribery,” the defense lawyers wrote in their trial brief.
The government’s trial brief also details Hayes’ role in planning to funnel Lindberg’s money to Causey’s campaign.
Hayes, a former congressman who later became the state GOP chair, pleaded guilty in October to lying to federal investigators and faces up to six months in prison. His sentencing is expected after the trial. Reached by phone Friday, Hayes did not want to comment for this story.
In a July 25, 2018 phone call to Hayes, Gray and Lindberg said they wanted to send money to the state Republican party, and then have the party transfer $250,000 of it to Causey’s reelection campaign.
Hayes responded that sending that much money to Causey’s 2020 campaign would draw attention, but added:
“Whatever you all want to do, we’ll do ... I’ll get ‘er done.”
This story was originally published February 24, 2020 at 10:29 AM with the headline "‘That’s a home run.’ How an FBI sting operation in NC caught an alleged bribe.."
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