Georgia bars First Liberty exec from selling securities, seeks criminal probe

A separate filing urges Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herb Cranford to investigate for potential charges.

First Liberty wasn’t a bank. The company made loans and sold interests in those loans to investors. It advertised them as safe investments offering hefty returns.

The company, which abruptly closed in late June, was founded by Brant Frost IV, who developed deep ties to the state’s conservative causes. His son, Brant Frost V, was also a pitchman for the business on conservative talk shows.

Frost V did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cranford told the AJC he had received the referral but declined further comment.

Wednesday’s actions by Raffensperger’s office are the latest twist in the collapse of a lending business that has roiled GOP politics. The federal Securities and Exchange Commission made public its investigation last year days after First Liberty collapsed, naming Frost IV in a sweeping lawsuit, which labeled the business a Ponzi scheme.

No criminal charges have been filed against Frost IV or his son, but many of the victims say they want justice.

Raffensperger, meanwhile, has leaned into his aggressive approach to the probe during his bid for governor.

Frost IV has issued a public apology and urged investors to cooperate with federal officials.

But Frost V has declined repeated requests for comment, including after he was elected to a Coweta County GOP post in August. Records show he was recently licensed as an insurance agent and launched a new firm under the name “E.B. Frost.”

Raffensperger’s actions also come as powerful Georgia House Republicans back legislation that would strip his office of its authority over securities and commodities regulation and transfer it to the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance.

“This is just the first of many orders we expect to file soon,” Raffensperger said.

The emergency order immediately bars Frost V from acting as a securities agent or investment adviser in Georgia and imposes a $500,000 civil penalty. He has 30 days to request a hearing before it becomes final.

The 15-page order outlines what regulators describe as a pattern of misleading statements and omissions made to investors as First Liberty raised millions of dollars.

The order cited the experiences of several individuals who invested in First Liberty through Frost V.

One investor invested in First Liberty in the six months before the firm collapsed, the order said.

Shortly after the firm’s collapse, the investor emailed multiple First Liberty employees — including Frost V — to withdraw his investment of $550,000, but he and his spouse have not received the principal amount back, according to the order. Two of his family members also invested in First Liberty, with the family investing a total of about $1.45 million, the order said.

It also includes an allegation that an investor who lost at least $350,000 told investigators that Frost V texted him in June 2025 — days before the company collapsed — to solicit a recurring donation to an unnamed state lawmaker who “has been such a great ally and partner with us.”

According to the order, Frost V was not registered with the state as a broker-dealer agent or investment adviser representative, yet he solicited and recommended investments tied to First Liberty’s programs.

The order states that Frost V earned commissions ranging from roughly 1% to 2.5% on investments he brought in, received tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses over several years and continued receiving payments from First Liberty even after some loans had defaulted.