FBI agents gave an insight into their role in bringing down an insurance mogul who is awaiting sentence in the States for a $2bn fraud and money laundering scam.

Special agents Alexandra Cuccaro, Brian Goldstein and Samantha Zigmont were guest speakers at the Countering Financial Crime conference held at the Villa Marina.

Some 600 people gathered at the Villa Marina’s Royal Hall for the conference which comes as the island prepares for next year’s crucial MoneyVal evaluation.

The FBI agents presented a case study of Florida man Greg Lindberg, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit offences against the US and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Lindberg and his co-conspirators defrauded various insurance companies and ultimately thousands of insurance policy holders.

He concealed the true financial positions of his companies and improperly used insurance company funds for his personal benefit.

Millions of dollars were funneled into paying for private jets, yachts, homes in Key West and North Carolina, security services and private investigators which he used in his pursuit of women.

Agent Cuccaro told the conference that Lindberg has used private jets as an ‘Uber’ on short distance flights of 15 minutes, with the policy holders’ funds.

She said he had bought a luxury yacht, again with insurance company funds, even after he knew the FBI has opened an investigation on him.

He is awaiting sentencing, which is due to take place at the end of the first quarter of next year.

Agent Cuccaro said: ‘There’s no pretty way to say it, but we would refer to it as “garbage in, garbage out”.

‘Mr Lindberg through his misrepresentations and manipulations, provided documents and statements not just to regulators but to auditors that suited his purposes. They were not a true reflection of his accounts and his companies.

‘The work the auditors produced was based on a series of lies.

‘What was visible to the regulators was only one level. Behind the scenes, the money was going elsewhere.

‘At the end of the day, the insurance companies were the big losers. They were left holding loan documents and paperwork with no underlying assets to support over $2bn of investments.’

She referred to a scene at the end of the film Dumb and Dumber where one of the antagonists opens a briefcase containing a large bundle of IOUs and says, ‘Where’s all the money?’

‘The insurance companies were left with a bunch of IOUs that weren’t able to be paid back,’ she said.

Asked if this could happen again, Agent Zigmont said: ‘If it didn’t, we wouldn’t be here today. Criminals find innovative ways to manipulate financial systems.’

Agent Goldstein said: ‘Unfortunately, it will definitely happen again, it’s going to happen in a different way but it’s going to happen.

‘One of the things we are seeing a flood of is cryptocurrency schemes and people investing in crypto markets. They are incredibly hard to track.’

In a welcoming address, Chief Minister Alfred Cannan said the forthcoming MoneyVal inspection was a ‘top priority’ and securing a positive outcome was fundamental.

He said greylisting would impact on the island’s GDP and cause significant reputational damage.