The former co-leader of a collapsed Georgia savings and loan, a lending firm that is now the subject of state and federal Ponzi scheme investigations, has been granted an insurance producer’s license in the state.
Edwin Brant Frost V, who previously worked at First Liberty Building & Loan with his father, now is a licensed insurance agent in Newnan, Georgia, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ license verification site. Frost obtained the license in August for life, accident and sickness lines, and has been appointed with several life and health insurers.
For months, news sites and court filings have indicated that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Georgia authorities have intensified their investigations after First Liberty imploded after the financial firm allegedly defrauded some 300 investors of more than $140 million. The operation was billed as a Christian, faith-based loan provider.
The SEC filed suit in federal court in Georgia in July, contending that the elder Frost, Brant Frost IV, had promised returns as high as 18%. But it was all a Ponzi scheme starting in 2021, and Frost IV allegedly used millions of dollars for personal gain and for political donations, the SEC complaint argues.
The elder Frost has accepted responsibility and has pledged to repay investors, according to news reports.
Frost V, the new insurance agent, is not named in the SEC complaint, but he has been subpoenaed by the Secretary of State’s office. He resigned from First Liberty in July and has declined to comment to news media, the Atlanta Journal Constitution and other sites reported.
Photo: The now-closed office of First Liberty Building & Loan in Newnan. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)
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