Former Georgia Lender Gets 15 Years For $140 Million Scheme

A federal judge sentenced the founder of a Georgia lending firm to 15 years in prison on Monday after prosecutors said he ran a $140 million Ponzi scheme that took money from about 300 investors.

Edwin Brant Frost IV, 69, founded First Liberty Building & Loan, which is now defunct. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud in May. Along with prison time, he must pay more than $76 million in restitution to victims and will serve three years of supervised release after his sentence.

The case was heard in Newnan. Prosecutors said the scheme began around 2021. Investors were told their money would fund bridge loans for small businesses waiting on long-term Small Business Administration loans, with annual returns from 8% to 18%. Federal officials said most of those bridge loans defaulted and that Frost did not use the money as described.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela Adams told the court this was a calculated deception carried out over several years, not a passive mistake. She said Frost used politics and religion to reach victims. Prosecutors said Frost spent at least $5 million of investor money on himself, including a $230,000 vacation home rental in Maine, $2 million in credit card payments and $570,000 in political contributions to conservative candidates.

Victims testified at the hearing. Jordan Baldwin said he trusted Frost, who appeared to him as Godsent. Baldwin said his family will be financially insecure longer than Frost will be incarcerated. Other people in the room called Frost a sociopath, a master of deception and slick.

Frost told U.S. District Court Judge Leigh Martin May that he was wrong and took full responsibility. His lawyer, Marc Mukasey, asked for a five-year term, citing Frost's age, and argued that a longer sentence would amount to a death sentence. May rejected the claim that Frost meant no harm, saying she did not believe the narrative that he was not trying to hurt people. She also said she could not guarantee victims would recover their money.

Frost has 30 days to surrender to authorities. His lawyer asked the court whether he could serve his time at a federal prison in Montgomery.