by CEDARTOWN, Ga. (AP) — A federal receiver is pursuing $140 million that was lost in a purported Ponzi scheme that enriched senior Republicans in Georgia and Alabama. He is seeking to reclaim money that frequently supported far-right Republican insurgents, including almost 1,000 political donations totaling over $1 million.
Some of these same politicians claim to have lost money as well, but the rank-and-file conservatives who were left to bear the brunt of First Liberty Building & Loan’s losses were influenced by talk show commentators who portrayed it as a chance for Christians and America First MAGA patriots.
Michael Tinney, a 59-year-old real estate salesman from Cedartown, Georgia, stated, “I worked my entire life to accumulate savings and have a little bit of retirement so I could just live comfortably.” After learning that First Liberty made pitches on conservative shows hosted by Charlie Kirk, Hugh Hewitt, and Erick Erickson, Tinney claimed to have invested $600,000.
First Liberty has guaranteed high-interest business loans with returns as high as sixteen percent. Main Street investors were promised Wall Street riches by evangelical powerbroker Brant Frost IV. However, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, he embezzled $17 million for himself, his family members, and their connected businesses, and lent millions more that borrowers never paid back.
According to his son Brant Frost V, in 2024, “We have retired teachers, retired businessmen, retired ministers, as well as doctors, lawyers, and everyone else you can imagine.” According to Tinney, the younger Frost secured his investment by driving to his workplace.
Substantial losses to the investors
Court-appointed receiver S. Gregory Hays reported on July 21 that the assets now only consist of $1.2 million in cash and some real properties owned by the Frost family.
Hays told The Associated Press that he is proceeding to foreclose on collateral promised by defaulting debtors, including a bankrupt South Carolina business, but that it is too soon to determine how much money is recoverable. Additionally, Hays seized Brant Frost IV’s Aston Martin sports car and intends to auction it off. Anger-filled investors especially mock a social media post that celebrates the 2022 acquisition.
Hays, though, is skeptical that he can regain everything.
According to him, the investors will suffer significant losses in this case.
Alabama and Georgia are also looking at it. Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state for Georgia, called on legislators to return campaign funds. According to Hays, he has already received $110,000 in addition to a $20,000 charitable donation that was returned.
On July 11, Frost declared that he accepted full responsibility and would dedicate the rest of his life to making amends for the numerous people he had deceived and disappointed.
However, no criminal charges have been brought against any of the Frosts, and some of their relatives continue to hold prominent positions in the Georgia Republican Party, whose chairman, Josh McKoon, has benefited politically and financially from the Frosts. “I’m deeply saddened that members of our conservative movement lost money,” McKoon said, adding that the party returned around $37,000 in Frost donations.
Some of the money flowed both ways
According to campaign reports, First Liberty, the Frosts, and related businesses made significant contributions to Republican causes, including over $700,000 in Georgia, $150,000 in Alabama, and about $140,000 in Maine, where the Frosts rented a vacation property in Kennebunkport for $230,000 over several years.
Donations from Georgia included tens of thousands to the state party and $1,000 to the unsuccessful 2018 bid for lieutenant governor by former party chairman David Shafer.Shafer tried to reverse President Donald Trump’s loss in Georgia in 2020, which resulted in an indictment against Shafer, Trump, and others that is currently pending a pretrial appeal.
In a complaint filed on July 10, a business owned by Shafer Springwood Capital claims that it lost $200,000 that it had invested in First Liberty. According to its lawyer, Brent Herrin, the business is among hundreds of investors who have been duped. Although financial reports indicate that Shafer held at least a portion of Springwood Capital’s parent company in 2017, Herrin refuses to confirm that Shafer is the company’s owner. Springwood Capital sincorporation documents were handled by McKoon, who received $4,500 in Frost gifts. According to McKoon, he did not lose any money.
On a radio program on July 16, Georgia GOP first vice-chairman Salleigh Grubbs stated that many Republican members were deeply involved.
Andrew Sorrell, a Republican state auditor in Alabama, claims that both he and a PPAC under his control lost money. Although he has not disclosed his personal loss, documents indicate that Alabama Christian Citizens PAC made a $29,000 investment.
“I learned a tough lesson,” Sorrell said, adding that the company had advertised itself through conservative outlets as a Christian and patriotic investment opportunity.
However, Sorrell, who is currently seeking the position of Secretary of State for Alabama, also benefited: Alabama Christian Citizens and Sorrell’s federal-level U.S. Christian Citizens PAC received $12,500 apiece, while he received $55,000 for his campaigns.
Warm words from pundits
Listeners were previously introduced to the Frosts by Erickson, a syndicated radio DJ from Atlanta. They belong to a respectable Christian family and are involved in conservative politics. They’ve been in my life for years. In 2020, he declared, “They are amazing people.”
In an interview with Brant Frost V in June 2024, radio host John Fredericks stated, “This is how we grow, this is how we fund our movement, and this is how we help out America First MAGA patriots.”
According to Tinney, the hosts gave First Liberty a rather believable appearance. He is still waiting for an apology and now refers to their enthusiastic support as a formula for catastrophe.
During a program on July 16, Fredericks did describe the SEC complaint as damning and alarming.
Fredericks added, “They have to have their day to fight the charges. I have spoken to them numerous times and never had any inkling that any of that was going on.”
Holding onto power despite the critics
According to McKoon, Brant Frost V, who was charged with unlawfully influencing elections in a Georgia Ethics Commission complaint on Wednesday, resigned from the state Republican committee on Thursday and is also leaving his position as the chairman of the Coweta County GOP. Katie Frost, the sister of Brant Frost V, is still the GOP chair for the 3rd Congressional District, and Krista Frost, the wife of Brant Frost IV, is still on the state committee.
Following their endorsement by a nominating committee headed by Katie Frost, McKoon and a few friends won party elections in June. David Cross, McKoon’s defeated opponent, is arguing that McKoon and the Frosts were involved in skullduggery and is appealing those results before the Republican National Committee. According to financial advisor Cross, he initially alerted state authorities to First Liberty’s potential wrongdoing in 2024.
Amy Kremer, a Georgia Republican National Committeewoman whose daughter was one of the rejected, called for the removal of the Frosts.
While ignoring financial crimes carried out under the aegis of Republican leadership, we cannot claim to be the party of law and order, Kremer stated.
Tinney, for his part, has another objective in mind: Right now, justice is what I want.
