The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges and sought emergency relief, including an asset freeze, against Georgia-based First Liberty Building & Loan, LLC and its founder and owner, Edwin Brant Frost IV, over an alleged Ponzi scheme that defrauded about 300 investors of at least USD 140 million. The defendants and five entities named as relief defendants consented to the SEC’s requested emergency and permanent relief without admitting or denying the allegations, with monetary remedies to be determined by the court. According to the SEC’s complaint, from approximately 2014 through June 2025 the defendants offered retail investors promissory notes and loan participation agreements promising returns of up to 18%, representing that proceeds would fund short-term bridge loans and that defaults were rare and repaid through Small Business Administration or other commercial loans. The SEC alleges the bridge loans did not perform as represented, most ultimately defaulted and stopped making interest payments, and since at least 2021 First Liberty used new investor funds to pay principal and interest to existing investors; Frost is also alleged to have misappropriated investor money for personal expenses, including more than USD 2.4 million in credit card payments, over USD 335,000 paid to a rare coin dealer, and USD 230,000 on family vacations. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, asserts violations of federal securities-law antifraud provisions and seeks a receiver, an accounting and expedited discovery, permanent and conduct-based injunctions, civil penalties, and disgorgement with prejudgment interest.

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