{"id":2458887,"date":"2025-07-11T19:35:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T23:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sec-accuses-georgia-republican-of-operating-140-million-ponzi-scheme\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T19:37:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T23:37:36","slug":"sec-accuses-georgia-republican-of-operating-140-million-ponzi-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sec-accuses-georgia-republican-of-operating-140-million-ponzi-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"SEC accuses Georgia Republican of operating $140 million Ponzi scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsec-accuses-georgia-republican-of-operating-140-million-ponzi-scheme%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2458887&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a civil lawsuit accusing Edwin Brant Frost IV, a Georgia Republican, of operating a $140 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded 300 investors. Frost allegedly pocketed $17 million for himself and his associates and spent significant sums on political donations and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chaos-breaks-out-in-courtroom-after-rudy-giuliani-unloads-on-judge-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Chaos breaks out in courtroom after Rudy Giuliani unloads on judge - Washington Examiner\">personal luxury items<\/a>. Following the lawsuit, a federal judge froze Frost&#8217;s assets and ordered him to repay the stolen funds with interest and fines. Frost publicly apologized, accepted obligation, and agreed to cooperate with authorities, though he neither admitted nor denied the allegations. The SEC detailed that Frost&#8217;s company, First Liberty Building and Loan, misled investors by falsely claiming to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >issue high-interest loans<\/a> to small businesses, using new investor money to pay existing investors. The company collapsed in late June after running out of cash. Authorities are investigating possible further legal actions, while Georgia&#8217;s Secretary of State is looking into violations of securities laws related to Frost&#8217;s activities.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">SEC accuses Georgia Republican of operating $140 million Ponzi scheme<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2170083\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/sec\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Securities and Exchange Commission\">Securities and Exchange Commission<\/a> accused a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/georgia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Georgia\">Georgia<\/a> Republican of running an elaborate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ponzi-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Ponzi scheme\">Ponzi scheme<\/a> in a civil lawsuit filed Thursday that scammed 300 investors out of $140 million.<\/p>\n<p>Edwin Brant Frost IV is also accused of pocketing $17 million for himself, his family, and affiliated companies, as well as spending $573,000 on political donations to Republicans. On Friday, he issued a public apology.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3467239\/trump-agenda-law-limits-gambling-loss-deductions\/\">Trump agenda law limits gambling loss deductions<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/3466847\/medicaid-tax-cuts-will-not-kill-millions\/\">Millions of deaths by a thousand tax cuts? Not quite<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3463626\/why-used-car-shoppers-ignore-odometers\/\">Why used-car shoppers can ignore odometers<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;I take full responsibility for my actions and am resolved to spend the rest of my life trying to repay as much as I can to the many people I misled and let down,&rdquo; Frost said. &ldquo;I will be cooperating with the receiver and federal authorities and ask that everyone allow the receiver time to sort things out and do his best to repair the damage I created.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The statement comes shortly after a federal judge froze Frost&rsquo;s personal and corporate assets and ordered him to pay back the stolen money with interest and fines. The SEC requested the order, and Frost agreed to the terms. In doing so, he did not admit to or deny any allegations.<\/p>\n<p>In its lawsuit, the agency&rsquo;s investigators said Frost&rsquo;s company, First Liberty Building and Loan, lied to investors about lending high-interest loans to small firms. The company&rsquo;s loans did not perform well, forcing it to raise more money from new investors to repay existing investors.<\/p>\n<p>Frost then used the investor funds for personal use, paying over $2.4 million in credit card payments, $335,000 to buy gold coins, $320,000 on a vacation home in Maine, $160,000 on jewelry, and $20,800 on a Patek Philippe watch.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The promise of a high rate of return on an investment is a red flag that should make all potential investors think twice or maybe even three times before investing their money,&rdquo; Justin Jeffries, associate director for the SEC&rsquo;s Atlanta Regional Office, said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/2025-98-sec-charges-georgia-based-first-liberty-building-loan-its-owner-operating-140-million-ponzi-scheme\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"statement\">statement<\/a>. &ldquo;Unfortunately, we&rsquo;ve seen this movie before &mdash; bad actors luring investors with promises of seemingly over-generous returns &mdash; and it does not end well.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The SEC filed its complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/president-trump-please-pardon-jon-woods-a-victim-of-process-crimes-like-michael-flynn\/\" title=\"President Trump, Please Pardon Jon Woods, a Victim of Process Crimes Like Michael Flynn\">judge appointed<\/a> a receiver who will manage Frost&rsquo;s assets, examine his finances, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sba-wont-even-try-to-collect-on-ppp-loans-that-are-supposed-to-be-paid-back-citing-equity\/\" title=\"SBA Won\u2019t Even Try To Collect On PPP ... That Are Supposed To Be Paid Back, Citing \u2018Equity\u2019\">claw back money<\/a>. Under the agreement, Frost or First Liberty may now face no other lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>The SEC said the defendant&rsquo;s business only had $2.67 million in cash as of May 30. The business collapsed on June 27, 11 days after Frost asked for more money from investors via email.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/3467896\/georgia-voter-rolls-to-remove-500k-inactive-registrations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"GEORGIA STARTS PROCESS TO REMOVE 500,000 INACTIVE VOTER REGISTRATIONS\">GEORGIA STARTS PROCESS TO REMOVE 500,000 INACTIVE VOTER REGISTRATIONS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Frost, a well-known Georgia Republican, has been on the political scene since 1988 when he managed Christian televangelist Pat Robertson&rsquo;s unsuccessful state campaign for the Republican Party&rsquo;s presidential nomination. Frost&rsquo;s children are also involved in Georgia Republican politics.<\/p>\n<p>It remains to be seen if the Justice Department will pursue criminal charges against Frost for the $140 million Ponzi scheme. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is currently investigating his company for possible violations of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/securities-and-exchange-commission-issues-multiple-warnings-about-recent-stock-market-volatility\/\" title=\"...urities And ... Issues Multiple Warnings About Recent Stock Market Volatility\">securities law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2170083\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2170083\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SEC charges Georgia Republican with $140M Ponzi scheme<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2159,"featured_media":2458888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEC.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4977,58937,3911,50942],"class_list":["post-2458887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-georgia","tag-ponzi-scheme","tag-republican","tag-sec-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEC.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2159"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2458887"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2458891,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458887\/revisions\/2458891"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2458888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}