Attendees pray during AmericaFest, the first Turning Point USA summit since the death of Charlie Kirk, in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. December 20, 2025. REUTERS
Georgia political fundraiser Brant Frost IV, known for bundling major donations for MAGA and Tea Party causes for the GOP, pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud.
Frost’s guilty plea before U.S. District Chief Judge Leigh Martin May is the latest development surrounding the collapse of First Liberty Building & Loan, and it is the first criminal conviction related to the downfall of the Newnan-based firm. Federal regulators accused the company last year of operating “a $140 million Ponzi scheme that targeted conservative and faith-based investors across Georgia and beyond.”
The AJC reports the plea “closes one chapter in a scandal that reverberated through Georgia conservative circles after First Liberty abruptly shut down operations last June.” Days later, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued the company and Frost, alleging the lender “used new investor money to cover obligations to earlier investors while portraying the business as a conservative, faith-driven alternative to traditional banking, with promises of big returns.”
First Liberty, which was not a federally insured bank, sold investment products known as “First Liberty Notes,” promising annual returns as high as 13 percent to accredited investors. AJC reports the company’s website promoted company executives as “authentic followers of Christ” and pitched the business as a conservative alternative for investors wary of traditional financial institutions.
“They didn’t steal from me. They stole God’s money,” complained 77-year-old retired electrical worker Thomas Todd, who invested $750,000 with First Liberty. The AJC reported Todd was even preparing to write another six-figure check when the company suddenly collapsed.
“I pray for them every day — every morning. They need those prayers. But they also need to pay for what they did.” Todd said of the Frost family.
Todd also insisted that his donations would have gone to churches and other religious charities had he not wasted them on Forst and his company’s Ponzi scheme.
ACJ reports Court-appointed receiver S. Gregory Hays has “spent months trying to recover money for investors, tracing tens of thousands of transactions across a maze of accounts.”
In recent filings, Hays warned many victims are unlikely to recover most of their losses.