A scandal involving an alleged massive Ponzi scheme that’s centered around right-wing Georgia businessman Brant Frost IV is threatening to roil Republican Party chapters across the country.
Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, issued subpoenas Monday as part of his investigation into the alleged scheme. In July, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that a Ponzi scheme had been run out of an investment firm Frost launched called First Liberty Building & Loan.
SEC investigators allege that approximately 300 investors were bilked out of at least $140 million and that about $17 million went toward personal expenses for Frost and his family, including more than $2.4 million in credit card payments and more than $570,000 in political donations.
Frost apologized last month, saying in a statement: “I take full responsibility for my actions and am resolved to spend the rest of my life trying to repay as much as I can to the many people I misled and let down.”
His actions have sent ripples through the Republican Party.
Frost’s son, Brant Frost V, promoted First Liberty to conservatives on right-wing media — such as Real America’s Voice — and has since stepped down from his post as head of a GOP county chapter in metro Atlanta. And there’s a push underway to determine which conservatives and right-wing causes benefited from First Liberty’s contributions.
Last month, Raffensperger called on politicians who received donations to return them:
Now is the time for every elected official, candidate or political action committee who received financial support from this entity currently under investigation to stand up and help the victims. Ill-gotten gains do not belong in the State Capitol.
A recent investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that the money reached beyond Georgia and into states nationwide. The AJC reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were among those who received donations, though the newspaper noted that it’s “not clear which contributions were paid with investors’ money.” The Georgia Recorder reported that other high-profile Republicans — such as Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and then-Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida — received contributions from First Liberty in last year’s election cycle. (Johnson, DeSantis, Boebert and Gaetz did not immediately respond to MSNBC’s requests for comment.)
According to the Recorder, some people in Georgia have returned money they received to a court-appointed receiver, including Gov. Brian Kemp, whose donations appear to have come before the alleged scheme began, and Raffensperger.
The receiver, Gregory Hays, basically said the scheme was meant to exploit right-wing Christians’ generosity toward like-minded causes:
“We call these affinity frauds, where you base it on a certain group, and this is very religious Christians and Republicans,” said Gregory Hays of Atlanta-based Hays Financial Consulting, who was appointed by a U.S. district court judge to receive the money from those returning the funds. “So most of all the victims are either in politics or very faith-based investors, and all of them that I talked to were influenced by the charitable giving and the feel-good side of the company.”
Several officials in neighboring Alabama have returned campaign contributions, as well. Given how expansive these donations appear to have been, the list of such politicians seems likely to grow in the coming weeks and months.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Comments