Edwin Brant Frost IV, a 69‑year‑old entrepreneur from Newnan, faced a 15‑year term after the United States District Court in Atlanta found him guilty of orchestrating a $76 million fraud that siphoned funds from more than 300 investors between 2021 and July 2025.
Frost marketed First Liberty Building and Loan, LLC as a faith‑based lender that championed Christian values and conservative politics. He promised investors monthly returns of 8% to 18% on short‑term bridge loans, all the while claiming the business earned only through transaction fees and interest spreads. The federal indictment revealed that the company’s legitimate lending arm was already floundering when Frost began diverting capital to pay earlier investors and fund a lavish lifestyle.
Investigators traced at least $5 million of client money into Frost’s personal accounts and related businesses. His expenditures included a $230,000 stay at a luxury Maine rental, more than $140,000 in high‑end jewelry, a $20,800 Patek Philippe watch, and $335,000 paid to a rare‑coin dealer. He also dumped $570,000 into political contributions, a move prosecutors said further entrenched the scheme’s deception.
U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg blasted Frost’s “sinful abuse of trust” and highlighted the victims’ plight, many of whom were retirees who had invested life savings based on the preacher‑political veneer Frost cultivated. “He wickedly exploited faith to plunder their accounts,” Hertzberg said, underscoring the personal toll.
The sentencing underscores the federal judiciary’s stance against complex financial fraud. Judge Leigh Martin May imposed the restitution order, mandating Frost to disgorge $76,454,374.39 and surrender assets in a bid to compensate the hundreds of families who lost their future security.
The restitution will be monitored by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which will oversee a structured payment plan. Victim advocacy groups are preparing to file claims to recover additional losses, while the Department of Justice will seek to seize remaining assets in the next court proceeding scheduled for September 2026.