The Collapse of a Georgia Ponzi Scheme Sends Ripples Into Alabama Politics

A high‑profile Georgia Republican who once moved comfortably in church circles and conservative fund‑raisers now faces an asset freeze, a court‑appointed receiver and a raft of angry investors. Over the last decade Edwin Brant Frost IV’s lending venture, First Liberty Building & Loan, veered from promise to Ponzi scheme—and now the fallout hasn’t just affected Georgia politics. It’s spread west, with three Alabamians having been called on to address their ties to Frost and First Liberty.

The scheme’s collapse has sent shockwaves through the religious and political networks that helped fund First Liberty, particularly in Georgia, where Frost has long held sway in far-right Republican circles. He first entered state politics in 1988 as the Georgia director for Pat Robertson’s Presidential campaign. His son, Brant Frost V, Chairs the Coweta County Republican Party and previously served as Second Vice-Chair of the GAGOP. His daughter, Katie Frost, leads the Republican Committee for Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District.

In a lawsuit filed by the Security and Exchange Commission against Frost and First Liberty on July 10, 2025, it’s alleged that Frost “raised at least $140 million from approximately 300 investors through the sale of loan participation agreements and promissory notes which offered annual returns of 8% to 18%.” The money was purportedly intended to be used to fund short‑term “bridge loans” for firms waiting on Small Business Administration financing. The suit alleges this went on between 2014 and June, 2025.

The suit further alleges that, beginning no later than 2021, First Liberty began operating as a Ponzi scheme. As loan defaults mounted, Frost began using new cash to pay old investors—a classic Ponzi technique. Additionally, investigators say Frost and his family siphoned off at least $17 million for personal use, including $570,000 in political donations, $160,000 in jewelry, $20,800 for a luxury watch, $335,000 in gold coins, and $320,000 for a rented vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine.

The company had just $2.67 million in cash on hand as of May 30, leaving average investor losses near half a million dollars each. The firm collapsed on June 27, only eleven days after Frost sent a June 16 email asking for up to $500,000 per investor to fund a supposed artificial intelligence loan-processing system.

While most of Frost’s political donations went to Georgia candidates, Frost, his children and five affiliated companies poured at least $132,000 into Alabama campaigns, as reported in the Alabama Reflector—$21,000 to State Rep. Ben Harrison (R-Elkmont) in 2022, $40,500 in total to Dr. Allen Long during his campaign for Alabama State Board of Education in 2023, and $71,000 to State Auditor Andrew Sorrell and his Alabama Christian Citizens PAC over the course of several campaigns, beginning in 2021. Alabama Christian Citizens PAC also loaned $29,000 to First Liberty in 2024, for which the PAC received some $3,876.37 in interest payments through May, 2025.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has urged every candidate who received money from Frost and his associates to return it to the receiver, saying, “Ill‑gotten gains do not belong in the State Capitol.”

As far as ALPolitics.com has been able to determine, at press time Dr. Allen Long has yet to comment on whether or not he will return the donations. Rep. Harrison is reportedly “looking into the legal avenues to return the funds…I am committed to making sure I do everything in my power to support the victims of this financial tragedy,”

Sorrell, who received funds for his Auditor’s campaign in 2021 and 2022, a PAC contribution in 2024 and a contribution to his Secretary of State campaign in May of this year said in a statement to ALPolitics.com that, “I am among the hundreds of people who lost money when the federal government recently discovered that First Liberty Building & Loan in Newnan, Georgia was defrauding its investors through a Madoff-like Ponzi scheme. The political action committee that I operate had invested money as well, which is commonplace with committees of this kind.

“The company had marketed itself through conservative channels as a "patriotic" and "Christian" investment opportunity,“ Sorrell continued. “It's an unfortunate situation that happens frequently across the U.S., and all of us who trusted the marketing and lost our investments have learned a tough lesson.

“One of the individuals responsible for the scheme donated personally and through his company to dozens of conservative Republican campaigns and political action committees across the southeast, including mine, and I will return the contributions to a court-appointed receiver as soon as the process is available,” he went on.

“It's important that all recovered money goes back to the investors so everyone can be made whole rather than to the individual who defrauded us,” Sorrell concluded.

In a statement released through his attorneys, Frost expressed remorse actions. “I would like to apologize personally to those I have harmed, but I am under restrictions which prevent me from doing so,” he said. “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.” Frost added that he would fully cooperate with both the court-appointed receiver and federal authorities.

U.S. District Judge Michael Brown granted the SEC’s request to freeze Frost’s personal and corporate assets, bar him from the securities industry, and order repayment of any ill-gotten gains. The judge appointed financial consultant S. Gregory Hays as receiver to recover assets and manage claims, and issued a temporary ban on other lawsuits against Frost or First Liberty.

The receiver must trace millions spent on jewelry, rare coins and a Kennebunkport vacation retreat, then decide how—or whether—investors will be repaid. With both federal and state authorities continuing their investigations, the SEC has not ruled out possible criminal charges. The Georgia Secretary of State is also probing the case for potential violations of state securities law.

The full text of the lawsuit is HERE.