The Shepherd's Betrayal: A Georgia GOP Leader, a $140 Million Alleged Fraud, and a Community's Trust Shattered
Article #1 of Red Clay Deceit: The Fight for the Soul of Georgia.
The collapse of a $140 million Ponzi scheme is a story in itself. But when the man at the center is one of the most powerful Republican leaders in Georgia, it becomes something more: a catalyst. This multi-part series, Red Clay Deceit, chronicles not only a devastating alleged financial fraud but the brutal political civil war it exposed inside the Georgia GOP. It is a story of betrayal, tainted money, and a bitter struggle between grassroots activists and the party establishment for the very soul of the conservative movement in one of America’s most critical political battlegrounds.
In the verdant, rolling landscape of Coweta County, Georgia, the city of Newnan stands as a bastion of Southern tradition and staunch conservatism. It’s a place where faith, family, and politics are not separate threads, but woven tightly into the fabric of daily life. For years, at the very center of that fabric, sat Brant Frost IV.
To the outside world, and especially to those within his community, Frost was the embodiment of the American dream, a self-made man of unshakeable principle. His name carried weight, not just from family legacy, but from his own tireless cultivation of influence. He was one of the Georgia Republican Party's most powerful figures—not through an official statewide title, but through something far more fundamental in modern politics: money. As a financial heavyweight and a key patron of the conservative movement, his donations bought him access and his voice earned him adoration from the grassroots. He was a familiar, reassuring presence at local GOP meetings, his voice resonating with the conservative values his audience held dear. In church, he was known to take the pulpit, speaking with the conviction of a man guided by faith.
He was, in short, a pillar. A man to be trusted. For the nearly 300 people who handed him their life savings, their retirement funds, and their dreams for the future, this trust was absolute. They weren't just investing in his company, First Liberty; they were investing in him. They were investing in his reputation, his standing in the church, and his position as a leader in the political party that defined their worldview. He was their shepherd, and they were his flock.
On July 11, 2025, that entire world of carefully managed perception was obliterated. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a 26-page complaint that landed like a bomb in the heart of Georgia's political establishment. The document, stripped of emotion and written in the cold, precise language of federal litigation, accused Brant Frost IV of being the architect of a breathtaking fraud. It alleged that for years, while serving as a Republican leader, Frost was operating a massive $140 million Ponzi scheme.
The SEC complaint methodically dismantles the facade of Frost’s business. It alleges that starting in at least 2018, Frost and his firm, Century ATL, solicited millions from investors with a simple, alluring promise: high-yield returns of 12 to 18 percent, delivered in short-term, 90-day promissory notes. Investors were told their money was safe, that it was being used to fund legitimate, asset-backed loans for real estate ventures and other businesses. It was a pitch perfectly tailored for a conservative investor: stable, secure, and profitable.
According to the federal government, it was all a lie.
The SEC alleges that First Liberty "had no material sources of revenue other than the funds raised from investors." The high returns being paid out were not the fruits of savvy investments. Instead, they were the classic calling card of a Ponzi scheme: money from new investors was being used to pay off earlier ones, creating a temporary, but potent, illusion of success. This illusion was crucial. It allowed the scheme to grow, drawing in more and more people from Frost's extensive network of contacts, each new investment used to placate the last.
As the scheme swelled, the SEC alleges Frost and his wife treated the funds not as a sacred trust, but as a personal slush fund. The complaint details a staggering level of misappropriation, claiming the couple siphoned "at least $21 million of investor funds" to underwrite a life of extreme luxury. The spending, as outlined by the SEC, reads like a catalog of the very "swamp" excess that grassroots conservatives decry:
More than $8.6 million to pay off personal American Express credit card bills.
Over $2.5 million in cash withdrawals, the purpose often untraceable.
A stunning $1.1 million spent on vacations and travel by private jet.
More than $700,000 used to acquire rare coins, an asset class often favored for its portability and difficulty to trace.
The betrayal documented in the SEC filing is shocking not just for its scale, but for its intimacy. This wasn’t an anonymous Wall Street firm gambling with client funds. This was a man accused of looking his neighbors, his friends, and his political allies in the eye, shaking their hands, and then systematically draining their life savings to fund his own opulent lifestyle.
The news broke across social media like a wildfire. On X (formerly Twitter), the reaction was a mixture of shock and fury. Political Account WhatMattersinGA, a prominent voice for the grassroots wing of the party, was one of the first to amplify the story, posting a link to the SEC complaint with the stark headline: "GEORGIA GOP 1ST VICE CHAIRMAN BRANT FROST ACCUSED OF $140 MILLION PONZI SCHEME." (Brant Frost IV was not the 1st Vice Chairman this was incorrect information from social media) The digital floodgates were open.
In the face of the federal complaint, a U.S. District Court judge moved with decisive speed, issuing a temporary restraining order to freeze the assets of Frost, his wife, and his companies, effectively locking down whatever remained of the investors' money.
As his world unraveled, Frost offered a public statement of contrition. "I would like to express my deepest apologies to all those affected by my actions," he stated, in a quote carried by the New York Post. "I am truly sorry for the harm I have caused."
But for the hundreds of families now confronting financial ruin, an apology offers little solace. The harm is not an abstract concept; it is the canceled retirement, the lost inheritance, the evaporated college fund. It is the gnawing fear of a future that was once secure, now rendered terrifyingly uncertain.
The political fallout was just as swift. The scandal didn't just tarnish one man; it threw a harsh, unflattering light on the entire political structure he was a part of. The money trail became an immediate focus. Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show Frost was a prolific political donor, using his financial leverage to support candidates and cement his influence within the GOP.
Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who has often been at odds with the party's establishment, wasted no time in drawing a line in the sand. He recognized that the alleged fraud and Frost's political life were inextricably linked. "It appears that his Ponzi scheme was funding his political donations," Raffensperger stated publicly. His demand was unequivocal: "The committees and candidates who received this tainted money should donate it to the court-appointed receiver to be returned to the victims of his fraud."
The call placed dozens of Republican campaigns and committees in a deeply compromised position. Accepting money from an alleged fraudster is one thing; keeping it after the fraud has been exposed is another. The "tainted money" narrative had begun, and it threatened to spread the stain of the scandal far beyond Brant Frost himself.
This was no longer a simple story of financial crime. It was a story about the intersection of money, power, and faith in one of America's most contested political states. The allegations against the Shepherd of Newnan had shattered a community's trust, but they had also ripped the curtain back on a brewing civil war within the Georgia Republican Party. As the initial shock wore off, it would be replaced by pointed questions aimed directly at the party's leadership: What did you know? When did you know it? And what are you going to do about it?
The answers, or lack thereof, would reveal whether this was the story of one man's fall from grace, or the symptom of a much deeper disease.
Sources:
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Brant F. Frost, IV, et al., Civil Action No. 1:25-mi-99999-UNA (Complaint, July 11, 2025)
New York Post, "Georgia Republican Brant Frost IV apologizes for $140M Ponzi scheme as judge freezes assets," July 12, 2025.
X post by @whatmattersing (Kylie Jane Kremer), July 12, 2025, 9:25 AM.
Federal Election Commission (FEC) individual contribution data for "Frost, Brant."
Correction: I previously reported that Brant Frost IV was the 1st Vice Chair of the Georgia Republican Party. This was information that was incorrectly reported in news outlets and social media posts. It is not correct. I have edited the article to reflect that. Thank you.
The Brant Frost Scandal
(The Central Figure)
Brant Frost IV
(Georgia GOP Donor | Community & Church Leader)
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Operates
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Century ATL LLC AKA First Liberty Building & Loan (Frost's Company)
(The Alleged Scheme)
Century ATL solicits ~$140 Million from ~300 investors.
THE PROMISE:
High-yield returns (12-18%).
Money is funding secure, asset-backed real estate loans.
A safe, stable, and profitable investment.
THE REALITY (According to the SEC):
A classic Ponzi scheme structure.
Money from new investors is used to pay "returns" to earlier investors.
Century ATL had no actual source of revenue or profit.
(The Alleged Use of Funds)
The SEC alleges investor money was diverted in two main directions:
1. Personal Enrichment (~$21 Million)
$8.6M+ on personal credit cards
$2.5M+ in cash withdrawals
$1.1M+ for vacations & private jets
$700k+ on rare coins
2. Political Influence (~$570,000+)
"Tainted money" was donated to numerous Republican candidates and party committees, cementing political power and influence.
(The Fallout)
1. SEC Charges Filed (July 11, 2025)
Formal complaint alleges massive, multi-year fraud.
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2. Federal Asset FreezeA judge issues a restraining order to freeze all assets of Frost, his wife, and his companies to preserve remaining funds.
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3. Public Outcry & ConsequencesHundreds of victims face financial ruin.
Calls emerge (from figures like Sec. of State Raffensperger) for politicians to return the tainted donations to a fund for the victims.
The scandal exposes deep rifts within the Georgia GOP.
The lawsuits are coming. There will be multiple defendants.
A political action committee (PAC) received funds from the Frost family. That PAC could be named, for example.
Stay tuned.
You need to post a correction. You are confusing Brant Frost V, who was 2nd VC of GAGOP and currently is Coweta County GOP chair and has been for over a decade. Brant Frost IV was not a GOP officer, however his son Brant V, his daughter Katie who is Congressional District 3 Chair and Committee Chair for the Financial Oversight Committee for GAGOP and his wife Krista, 2nd VC of Coweta GOP as well as State Committee member via CD 3 election to that position.