A politically-connected Georgia lender accused of running a Ponzi scheme that federal investigators say defrauded 300 investors of almost $140 million made political donations to at least four South Carolina Republicans.
State Reps. Thomas Beach and Josiah Magnuson, former state Sen. Lee Bright and former gubernatorial and congressional candidate Catherine Templeton are a small number of GOP politicians and groups nationwide that received donations from Edwin Brant Frost IV and members of the Frost family, according to state campaign reports.
Frost is now at the center of a federal complaint that accuses the Republican-linked founder of Newnan, Georgia-based firm First Liberty Building and Loan of lying to investors about making high-interest loans to companies, and spending more than $570,000 of investor money in political donations.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also alleges in its July 10 complaint that Frost used investor funds for personal benefit that included spending $335,000 on a rare coin dealer, $230,000 to rent a vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine, $140,000 to buy jewelry, and $20,800 to buy a Patek Philippe watch.
The complaint said Frost "knowingly misrepresented" the success of First Liberty's bridge loan program to investors.
A notice on First Liberty's website says the company has stopped its business operations and is no longer making any new loans.
"First Liberty is cooperating with federal authorities as part of an effort to accomplish an orderly wind-up of the business," the notice said. "First Liberty employees are not authorized to make any further communications at this time regarding the ongoing situation, and no one at the company will be available to answer phone calls or respond to email inquiries."
Frost apologized last month.
“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,” Frost said in part of his statement reported by the Associated Press.
Frost, family spent thousands on SC political campaigns
In South Carolina, it's unclear Frost's and his family's interest in state GOP political affairs.
In at least one case, one S.C. recipient said they didn't know he even donated.
Georgia media reports the donations were part of what was a growing national political network.
Frost is well-known in Georgia GOP circles, formerly serving as then-presidential candidate Pat Robertson's Georgia state director. His son, Brant Frost V, and his daughter, Katie Frost, have been involved in state GOP politics for years.
Candidates and political groups in at least 38 states received donations from the Frost family, according to an analysis done by the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, which reported that some politicians who received donations are themselves victims of the alleged scheme.
The federal complaint said Frost used investor funds to pay himself and family members in excess of $5 million, and used investor funds to pay for the operations of affiliated companies that he controlled.
As recent as May 24, 2025, the complaint said Frost withdrew $100,000 in investor funds for personal use.
The Frost family donated about $10,000 to the four South Carolina Republicans from 2017 up until last year from two separate Newnan, Georgia-based addresses, according to state campaign fundraising reports:
- State Rep. Magnuson, a Spartanburg legislator and member of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, received $5,500 between 2017 and 2024 from members of the Frost family.
- Former state Sen. Bright, who in 2024 staged an unsuccessful political comeback for an open Upstate state Senate seat, received $3,000 in campaign contributions last year from members of the Frost family.
- State Rep. Beach, an Anderson legislator and Freedom Caucus member, received $1,500 in campaign donations in 2023 and 2024 from members of the Frost family.
- Catherine Templeton, a former state agency director who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018 and the U.S. House in 2024, received $10 from Brant Frost in 2017.
Beach and Bright could not be reached for comment.
Templeton told SC Public Radio that she didn't know Frost and never had any interaction with him. She also said she was unaware he had donated $10 to her campaign and said she never invested with First Liberty.
Magnuson said he met the Frosts through friends in Georgia involved in conservative GOP politics.
Magnuson said he never invested in First Liberty.
But he said it wasn't like its founder didn't try.
"Fortunately, I didn't lose any money with them," said Magnuson, who said the phone and emailed requests to invest with First Liberty "always seemed a little sketchy to me" and lacked details.
Magnuson said he never thought the requests rose to a scam but said the tone of the requests were sometimes "overly flowery."
"I started to notice a little controlling attitude," he said.
GA officials look for possible victims
It's not clear yet whether each donation was investor money.
In some states like Georgia and Alabama, politicians and groups are quickly returning money from the Frost family and First Liberty.
A federal judge appointed S. Gregory Hays as the receiver to manage the assets.
In a July 21 report from Hays, it said First Liberty "appears to have directly, indirectly or through the Frost family" made almost 1,000 political donations that total more than $1 million using investor funds.
Assets, Hays's report said, include $1.2 million in frozen money.
Though too early to know how much money can be recovered, the AP reported that Hays and his receiver team are also looking at collateral that was pledged by borrowers who defaulted.
That includes a South Carolina factory.
In an email to SC Public Radio, Hays said that the receiver team is in talks with lawyers of the title owner of a plant in Mullins that was never completed or opened that hopefully, he added, does not have to foreclose.
Hays said a team member plans to visit the plant this week.
Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whose office is also investigating First Liberty, has called on anyone who received political donations from the Frost family or the company to return the money.
“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,” Raffensperger said in a statement. “Ill-gotten gains do not belong in the State Capitol.”
“If you believe you’ve been misled or victimized by First Liberty, we need to hear from you," Raffensperger added.
As of last week, Magnuson said he had not yet considered returning the money.
He said he only learned of those calls after inquiries by SC Public Radio.
If there "is a fund where the victims can be helped, I would be open to donating to that," he said.
More than $170,000 has already been paid to an estate for the investors' benefit, an earlier automatic emailed response from Hays said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
