ATLANTA — Edwin Brant Frost IV will spend 15 years in federal prison for operating a Ponzi scheme that bilked more than 300 investors out of more than $76 million, federal prosecutors announced this week.
Frost, 69, ran the scheme through Newnan-based First Liberty Building and Loan. By 2021, First Liberty was not taking in enough revenue to meet its obligations, prosecutors said Monday. Then, instead of disclosing the shortfalls, Frost used new investors’ money to make payments to existing investors.
Frost held his company out as a politically conservative, Christian lender, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg likened Frost to a “false prophet” who exploited investors’ faith, adding that he “used religion, politics, and promises of profitable returns to lure investors into giving him their hard-earned money.”
Frost was sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay more than $76 million in restitution.
He was convicted of wire fraud on May 12 after he pleaded guilty.