Far-right Republican gets whacked over Georgia Ponzi scheme

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the president of conservative insurgency group the Georgia Republican Assembly has been hit with a $500k fine for his part in a massive Ponzi scheme that primarily afflicted Republican donors.

The office of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger alleges that Nathaniel Darnell “used religion and shared political views to recruit some of his clients and steered them toward investments in First Liberty,” the force behind the scam that has either incriminated or victimized whole sectors of Georgia’s MAGA and Tea Party movements.

In addition to the hefty fine and a “cease and desist” order for conducting business, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office also referred Darnell to a district attorney for potential criminal prosecution over allegations he deceived investors in First Liberty Building & Loan.

“It’s the latest fallout from the collapse of First Liberty, a failed lender that federal regulators have labeled a $140 million Ponzi scheme, and a sign that the state’s investigation is spreading to more people and firms that were in its orbit,” reports AJC.

Darnell, who previously worked for notable Republican politicians and was once executive director of the Cobb County Republican Party, sold unregistered First Liberty investments to nearly four dozen clients without telling his employer, Bankers Life Advisory Services, according to the complaint. He also concealed from clients and his employer that he earned commissions totaling “nearly $250,000 over several years.”

Georgia Republicans are loathe to denounce the Ponzi scheme connected to Republican financier and First Liberty founder Brant Frost IV, despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accusing Frost IV of orchestrating the scheme that funneled millions to his family in under the pretense of boosting far-right politicians. Ffederal authorities have since frozen the company’s assets.

Meanwhile, state investigators, including President Donald Trump’s nemesis, Raffensperger — a Republican — is pursuing his own investigations into campaign finance issues and alleging violations of state securities laws. The state ethics commission, also, has joined the fight, charging the Georgia Republican Assembly PAC with “61 civil violations of state campaign finance laws, accusing it of illegally trying to sway elections,” according to the AJC. The Commission later added the Georgia Republican Assembly — led by Darnell — as a defendant.

The AJC reports victims include Republicans like 93-year-old retiree Jay McMaster, who heard about First Liberty Building & Loan and it’s MAGA crusade on conservative radio.

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