ISTANBUL

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said late Thursday that credit institution First Liberty Building and Loan has defrauded nearly 300 investors of at least $140 million for over more than a decade.

The SEC has filed charges seeking an asset freeze and other emergency relief against the Newnan, Georgia-based First Liberty Building & Loan, LLC and its founder, Edwin Brant Frost IV, in connection with what regulators described as a Ponzi scheme.

The commission states that Brant Frost IV, as the head of the organization, was connected to a Ponzi scheme that defrauded approximately 300 investors, many of whom were recruited through his political connections and misled into investing in loan partnership agreements promising high-interest returns.

"According to the SEC’s complaint, from approximately 2014 through June 2025, First Liberty and Frost offered and sold to retail investors promissory notes and loan participation agreements that offered returns of up to 18% by representing that investor funds would be used to make short-term bridge loans to businesses at relatively high interest rates," SEC said in a statement.

"The complaint further alleges that Frost misappropriated investor funds for personal use, including by using investor funds to make over $2.4 million in credit card payments, paying more than $335,000 to a rare coin dealer, and spending $230,000 on family vacations," the statement added.

He is also accused of using investor money to make more than $570,000 in political donations.

Regulators estimate each investor suffered an average loss of about $500,000.