Georgia Republican Apologizes for $140M Ponzi Scheme

The SEC said the business had only $2.67 million in cash as of May 30. With 300 investors out $140 million, that means the average investor put in nearly $500,000.

Frost is alleged to have taken $17 million for himself, his family and affiliated companies, spending $573,000 on political donations to Republicans, $160,000 on jewelry, $20,800 on a Patek Philippe watch and $335,000 to buy gold coins. Frost is also accused of spending $320,000 to rent a vacation home over multiple years in Kennebunkport, Maine, the town where the family of late president George H. W. Bush spent summers.

The SEC said in court papers that Frost kept writing checks and soliciting new investors even after he made “misrepresentations” when investigators first met with Frost on May 15. Court papers included a June 16 email asking investors to put between $100,000 and $500,000 into a loan to First Liberty itself, claiming the company was developing an AI software system to help banks and credit unions complete loan applications quickly. The company went out of business 11 days later on June 27.

First Liberty said it made loans to companies that needed cash while they waited for more conventional loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. It charged high rates of interest — 18% on most loans, prosecutors said. First Liberty promised investors equally high rates of return — 8% to 16%. The company advertised heavily to find new investors over the past year, branching out from the original “family and friends” approach.

Frost has been an important player in Georgia politics since 1988, when he coordinated televangelist Pat Robertson’s Republican presidential bid in the state. His son, Brant Frost V, is chairman of the Coweta County Republican Party and former second vice-chair of the state Republican Party. Daughter Katie Frost is the Republican chairman of the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Coweta County and other areas southwest of Atlanta.