WALTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Walton County senior citizen tells Channel 2 Action News that he invested more than $750,000 in First Liberty Building & Loan because of its conservative causes.
Thomas Todd, a retired electrician and Vietnam vet, said he earned money during three years as a contractor in Iraq that he was able to use to renovate and flip homes.
He told Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray that he invested some of those gains at First Liberty so that he could use the promised monthly interest payments to support Christian missionaries around the world.
Todd said he has always taken pride in his ability to read people to know who to trust, until he sat down at First Liberty Building & Loan in Newnan with owner Edwin Brant Frost IV.
“They knew they were in trouble. They knew that they were doing the wrong thing. And they looked you in the eye. That’s right, looked me in the eyes and lied,” Todd said.
Todd invested $750,000 in First Liberty. In a contract, he was promised a 13% return, paid monthly.
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Todd said part of why he invested was the Frost family’s public commitment to Christian and conservative causes.
“I like to deal with people of like faith and support them,” Todd said.
But the federal Securities and Exchange Commission now calls First Liberty, run by Frost IV, a $140 million Ponzi scheme.
The SEC complaint alleges Frost spent lavishly with investors’ money.
This is where some of the money went to:
- $570,000 going to political donations
- $140,000 in jewelry
- A $20,000 Patek Phillippe watch
- $335,000 to a rare coin dealer
Altogether, Frost allegedly transferred $5 million to himself and his family.
“It’s disgusting. I mean, just totally disgusting,” said Jame McMaster, 93, another investor.
We introduced you to McMaster last month. He invested $1.3 million in First Liberty.
“I am not going to let it eat me alive,” McMaster said.
The monthly profits from Todd’s $750,000 investment were supposed to go to help churches and missionaries he supports around the world.
“They knew what we were doing and what we were about,” Todd said.
Todd told Gray that he now prays each night for the other victims, but also for the Frost family.
“I pray for their well-being. I pray their ability to see what they’ve done and repent, and do the right thing,” Todd said.
Just last week, the Secretary of State’s Office sent out new subpoenas for more financial and investor information.
So far, this is a civil investigation by the state and the federal government, but sources have told Channel 2 Action News that the FBI is also looking into this.
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