佐治亚州商人Edwin Frost庞氏骗局骗走300多人逾7600万美元获刑15年
佐治亚州 Newnan——美国司法部佐治亚北区联邦检察官办公室10月26日宣布，69岁的 Newnan 商人 Edwin Brant Frost IV 因经营庞氏骗局、致300多名投资者损失逾7600万美元，被联邦法院判处15年监禁，并须赔付76,454,374.39美元。
司法部称，至少自2021年至2025年7月，Frost 通过其总部位于 Newnan 的 First Liberty Building and Loan, LLC 实施大规模投资诈骗。他把公司包装成一家帮助小企业的保守派基督教贷款机构，声称投资者资金将用于向小企业发放短期高息「过桥贷款」，承诺年回报8%至18%、按月支付，并称本息将由借款人后续再融资（多为小企业局 SBA 担保贷款）偿还。
但到2021年，该公司收入已不足以履约：大量过桥贷款违约、借款人停付，公司没有足够合法收入支付投资者利息。Frost 没有披露困境，反而谎称资金100%用于过桥贷款、贷款表现良好、只有少数违约，并谎称借款人已获 SBA 预批；实际上他已开始用新投资者的钱支付欠老投资者的利息，即庞氏手法。
司法部称，Frost 至少挪用500万美元投资者资金供个人挥霍，包括缅因州23万美元度假屋租金、逾14万美元珠宝、一块20,800美元的百达翡丽手表、付给稀有钱币商逾33.5万美元、逾200万美元信用卡还款以及逾57万美元政治捐款。
联邦首席地区法官 Leigh Martin May 判处 Frost 15年监禁、其后3年监督释放。Frost 已于2026年5月12日就电信诈骗认罪。此案由 FBI 与联邦存款保险公司监察长办公室（FDIC OIG）调查，证券交易委员会（SEC）与佐治亚州州务卿办公室提供协助。
Georgia Businessman Edwin Frost Sentenced to 15 Years for $76 Million Ponzi Scheme That Victimized More Than 300 Investors
NEWNAN, Georgia — Edwin Brant Frost IV, 69, of Newnan, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for operating a Ponzi scheme that victimized more than 300 investors and caused losses of more than $76 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced. He was ordered to pay restitution of $76,454,374.39.
According to the Justice Department, from at least 2021 through July 2025 Frost orchestrated the fraud through his Newnan-based company, First Liberty Building and Loan, LLC. He held the company out as a politically conservative, Christian lender helping small businesses, telling investors their funds would make short-term, high-interest bridge loans to small businesses and promising returns of 8 to 18 percent paid monthly, with principal and interest to be repaid through borrowers' eventual refinancing, often through SBA-backed loans.
By 2021, however, First Liberty was not generating enough revenue: numerous bridge loans had defaulted and the company lacked sufficient legitimate income to pay investors. Instead of disclosing the shortfalls, Frost falsely claimed that 100 percent of investor money funded bridge loans, that the loans were performing and that borrowers had received SBA preapproval, while using new investor funds to pay interest owed to existing investors.
Frost diverted at least $5 million for personal benefit, including a $230,000 vacation home rental in Maine, more than $140,000 in jewelry, a $20,800 Patek Philippe watch, more than $335,000 to a rare coin dealer, more than $2 million in credit card payments and more than $570,000 in political contributions. Chief U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May imposed the sentence; Frost had pleaded guilty to wire fraud on May 12, 2026. The FBI and the FDIC Office of Inspector General investigated the case, with assistance from the SEC and the Georgia Secretary of State.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：位于佐治亚州 Atlanta 的 Richard B. Russell 联邦大楼与联邦法院（CC BY 3.0）— via Wikimedia Commons
