Victims of the First Liberty Ponzi plan can now start the official procedure of declaring cash from the court-appointed receiver, following an October 27 federal court order developing how financiers’ losses will be computed and how retrieved funds might become dispersed.
U.S. District Judge Michael L. Brown authorized the claims procedure for First Liberty Building and Loan and associated business, offering financiers and other qualified lenders 60 days from the date of the order to send their claims.
The determined filing due date is December 26, 2026.
The order offers the very first comprehensive treatment for the more than 300 victims recognized by federal district attorneys to develop just how much cash they lost and look for payment from funds recuperated throughout the receivership.
It does not develop just how much each financier will get or when payments will start.
The advancement comes one day after Edwin Brant Frost IV was sentenced to 15 years in federal jail and bought to pay $76,454,374.39 in restitution.
The criminal restitution order and the receiver’s claims procedure are different legal treatments. The brand-new claims procedure issues possessions recuperated through the federal civil receivership.
How financiers can sue
Court-appointed receiver S. Gregory Hays is needed to send out details about the claims procedure to recognized prospective complaintants within 10 days of the October 27 order.
Those notifications will be sent out by first-rate mail to the last recognized address of each possible plaintiff.
Understood financiers will get a claim type including their recognizing details and, when enough records are offered, the receiver’s computation of their losses.
Financiers must examine that info thoroughly before returning the necessary kind.
The finished claim needs to be sent straight to the receiver, not to the federal court.
Claims might be sent by mail to:
S. Gregory Hays, Receiver
Suite 555
2964 Peachtree Road NW
Atlanta, GA 30305
Claims might likewise be sent by e-mail to
The court order needs the receiver to validate invoice of sent claims.
For sent by mail claims, the order defines trackable physical mail shipment with a postmark by the due date.
For emailed claims, the order needs verification of invoice from the receiver by the due date.
Financiers ought to maintain copies of their claim kinds, supporting files, and shipment verifications.
The receiver is likewise needed to publish the notification, court order, and associated claims details on the receivership site.
Just how much cash can victims declare?
Among the most crucial arrangements of the order issues how financiers’ losses will be determined.
The receiver will utilize a technique frequently called cash in, cash out.
The computation begins with the overall quantity a financier paid into First Liberty and deducts all cash that First Liberty or its affiliates went back to that financier.
Somebody who invested $100,000 and got $15,000 in payments would have a calculated net loss of $85,000, presuming no other accounts or healings impact the estimation.
The receiver will not consist of assured however overdue interest, revenues, or costs in the permitted claim quantity.
That difference might be crucial for financiers who got month-to-month payments before First Liberty collapsed. Those payments will usually minimize the quantity of the primary loss acknowledged through the claims procedure, no matter how First Liberty explained them at the time.
The receiver will depend on banking records, forensic accounting, and paperwork provided by financiers.
Numerous accounts might be integrated
The court has actually likewise licensed the receiver to integrate several accounts related to the exact same complaintant when determining losses.
Those accounts might consist of specific and joint accounts, pension, trusts, and minimal liability business owned by the financier.
The receiver will determine the combined quantity invested and deduct the combined quantity withdrawn.
Financiers need to likewise reveal healings gotten from 3rd parties in connection with First Liberty.
Those healings might decrease the quantity acknowledged as a qualified claim, avoiding the exact same loss from being repaid two times.
In April, The Citizen reported on a $6.7 million settlement including Bankers Life, which was meant to pay back lost primary to 46 financiers who had actually been directed to First Liberty by a previous monetary consultant.
Financiers who have actually gotten cash through that or another healing effort should report those payments as needed by the court order.
What if a financier disagrees with the receiver?
Financiers will have a chance to challenge the receiver’s estimations.
Anybody who contests the quantity noted on a prefilled claim type need to finish a blank claim type and send paperwork supporting the quantity they think is proper.
Appropriate supporting files consist of bank declarations, brokerage declarations, pension declarations, wire transfer invoices, and canceled checks.
The receiver will not count on files prepared by First Liberty or Brant Frost IV to determine a financier’s loss.
If the receiver declines a claim, either completely or in part, the complaintant will get a composed decision describing the choice.
Claimants will then have 20 days after the receiver sends out that decision to interest the federal court.
Financiers who do not have adequate records might require to collect documents before sending their claims.
Who is qualified?
The court-approved procedure permits claims from financiers and lenders who can develop certifying losses or overdue responsibilities to First Liberty.
The order consists of constraints worrying business experts and individuals who intentionally took part in or assisted promote the deceptive financial investment plan.
The receiver might examine those relationships and prohibit claims based upon the situations.
The order likewise permits the receiver to evaluate claims from representatives who invested their own cash and suffered losses. Such claims might certify if the representative pleases the requirements, consisting of the constraints worrying experts and understanding of the scams.
Financial institutions who supplied products, services, or loans need to finish claim types and file overdue quantities owed to them.
When will financiers get cash?
The October 27 order develops a schedule for evaluating claims however does not license instant payments.
Under the court’s schedule, the receiver is anticipated to make claim decisions around 90 days after the order.
Claimants will have a chance to appeal unfavorable decisions.
After those disagreements have actually been solved, the receiver should send a suggested circulation strategy to the court recognizing qualified complaintants and the quantities proposed for a preliminary payment.
The judge needs to authorize that strategy before circulations can continue.
The quantity readily available for payment will depend upon just how much cash the receiver can recuperate, the claims eventually authorized, and other costs and responsibilities of the receivership.
There is no surefire portion of payment in the brand-new order.
That suggests a financier whose bottom line is authorized for $100,000 must not presume that a look for $100,000 will follow.
Other efforts to recuperate cash for victims
Hays has actually been recognizing and trying to recuperate properties related to First Liberty given that the receivership started in July 2025.
The effort consists of homes, service interests, monetary accounts, and other possessions related to the business associated with the plan.
In a different October 27 filing, the receiver reported a contract with Krista Frost, better half of Brant Frost IV, worrying Family Financial Partners LLC and its holdings in Old Glory Bank.
The proposed contract might bring extra possessions into the receivership, although the worth of those holdings and a disagreement including specific creator’s shares stay unsolved.
Independently, the Securities & & Charities Division of the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, under the management of Assistant Commissioner of Securities Noula Zaharis, is pursuing civil charges versus other people linked in the First Liberty examination.
The workplace has actually provided 3 $500,000 civil charges, amounting to $1.5 million, versus Brant Frost V, Randy Hough, and Timothy Nathaniel Darnell. Their cases were likewise referred for possible prosecution.
Those charges have actually been enforced through state administrative enforcement procedures, however the $1.5 million must not be dealt with as cash currently gathered or offered for circulation.
Zaharis has actually guaranteed The Citizen that the Secretary of State’s Office is devoted to pursuing extra healings and working to direct cash gathered through enforcement efforts to First Liberty victims. The capability to direct charge profits to victims includes different legal requirements and is not part of the receiver’s recently authorized claims procedure.
Victim supporter Lisa Deveraux, who runs the First Liberty Victims Portal, has stated her company will continue assisting victims get details and browse healing efforts.
In earlier reporting about the website, The Citizen explained how financiers were getting in touch with one another and federal government companies while looking for responses about their losses.
For victims who have actually waited more than a year for an official course towards payment, the authorized claims procedure is a substantial advancement.
The instant top priority is to evaluate the notification when it gets here, validate the receiver’s computations, and send the necessary type before the due date.
Suing does not ensure complete payment, however stopping working to submit on time might avoid a financier from getting any circulation through the receivership.
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