NEWNAN, Ga. — A bill being presented to the Georgia General Assembly could shift control of the investigators looking into an alleged $140 million Ponzi scheme.
Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray spoke exclusively with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is questioning lawmakers’ motivation.
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House Bill 934 would move the Securities Division out of the Secretary of State’s Office, and Raffensperger is concerned it could have major effects on their investigation into First Liberty and more.
“My concern is all this, just perhaps could slow things down. We just want to make sure things continue on," Raffensperger said.
Gray was there just before Christmas as Brant Frost V showed up for a closed-door deposition with Secretary of State office investigators.
Frost and his father are both highly connected to Georgia Republican leaders.
The SEC shut down First Liberty over the summer, saying that investors’ money was being diverted to conservative political donations and luxury items like cars and jewelry.
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House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration is one of the bill’s sponsors. He says the proposed move of Securities to the state’s Banking and Finance Department is not intended to stop or slow down any First Liberty work.
“I certainly don’t see that at all. Obviously, when an investigation is ongoing like this First Liberty investigation that has been reported in the media, it’s important that investigations are followed through and that there’s no interruption with that whatsoever,” Efstration said.
He says the magnitude of the First Liberty investigation put the spotlight on Securities investigations, and he feels like Banking and Finance would handle it better.
“Out of 50 states, there’s less than a handful where Banking has oversight over Securities,” Raffensperger said. “It’s always been, historically, you know, in the Secretary of State’s Office.”
Both the state and federal investigations into First Liberty are continuing.
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