First Liberty Ponzi Scheme Report Links Payments to Former Coweta School Board Member Linda Menk

A newly released receiver’s report tied to the First Liberty Ponzi scheme shows that former Coweta County School Board member Linda Menk received $36,700 in payments, placing her inside a financial network now under investigation for a scheme involving more than $155 million in investor funds.

The report, filed by court-appointed receiver Gregory Hays on March 23, states that First Liberty raised approximately $155.7 million from investors, returning about $89.4 million and leaving tens of millions unaccounted for or used for other purposes.

Within those records, Menk appears three times:

• $2,500 on Aug. 10, 2018, listed as a loan
• $20,000 on Dec. 28, 2021
• $14,200 on Sept. 28, 2022

The later payments are categorized as “commission/referral/loan/servicing fees.”

Menk is not listed as an employee.

The payments—particularly the 2018 transaction—add new context to a years-old controversy that cost Coweta County Schools more than $200,000 to investigate.

Why this matters now

At the time of the 2018 controversy, there was no public indication that Menk had any financial ties to individuals connected to First Liberty.

The receiver’s report changes that.

It places a sitting school board member, at the time of the controversy, inside the same financial ecosystem tied to First Liberty, a company whose owner, Edwin Brant Frost IV, is now at the center of the alleged scheme.

His son, Edwin Brant Frost V, served for years as chairman of the Coweta County Republican Party and was also associated with First Liberty.

The receiver’s report does not state why Menk received the payments or what they were for. However, two of the three payments are categorized alongside commission and referral fees—suggesting they were not routine reimbursements or payroll.

The 2018 turf controversy

The financial records become significant when viewed alongside the findings of the Wilson Ware investigative report, commissioned by the Coweta County School Board in 2018.

That investigation was launched after formal allegations accused the school system of wrongdoing in awarding a turf contract.

Former board chair Amy Dees said the complaint forced the district into an expensive and time-consuming process.

“We had to hire an outside law firm to investigate allegations that ultimately proved unfounded, and it cost our taxpayers more than $200,000,” Dees said.

The investigation, conducted by attorneys Bob Wilson and Carrie Ware, reviewed emails, communications, and the bidding process itself. It ultimately found no evidence of bid rigging or criminal wrongdoing by the school system.

But the report did raise concerns about Menk’s conduct.

What the Wilson Ware report found

According to the report, Menk communicated with a contractor connected to a competing bidder both before and after the board’s vote.

Those communications were not disclosed to the full board.

The report further found that information provided by that contractor was later presented publicly by Menk as if it were independently developed.

In describing the sequence of events, the report concluded that a board member used information from an outside contractor to challenge the outcome of the bid and later worked to discredit the board’s decision.

The report also documents continued coordination after the vote, including emails among Menk and others involved in raising concerns about the project.

At one point, Menk wrote that it was “time to call the GBI and get the ball rolling,” escalating the situation into a formal complaint that triggered the investigation.

A “good scandal”

The Wilson Ware report also references the broader political environment surrounding the controversy.

Among the statements documented is a remark attributed to Brant Frost V:

“What we need is a scandal. What we need is a good scandal.”

Frost, at that time chair of the Coweta GOP and an employee of First Liberty, was part of the network of individuals engaged in discussions surrounding the issue.

Dees said the controversy did not occur in isolation.

“There was always a controversy before an election,” she said. “This one followed the same pattern.”

The letter and the payment

On Aug. 7, 2018, an attorney sent a formal letter to the Coweta County School Board accusing the district of wrongdoing in the turf contract process. That letter triggered the investigation that would ultimately cost taxpayers more than $200,000.

Three days later, on Aug. 10, 2018, financial records show that Linda Menk received a $2,500 payment from First Liberty.

The receiver’s report lists the payment as a loan.

The report does not state why the payment was made.

But the timing places the transaction within days of the formal complaint that launched the investigation.

What was not known then

At the time, the focus of the investigation was on whether the school system had acted improperly.

The answer, after more than a year of review, was no.

What was not known then—and is only now visible through the receiver’s report—is that one of the central figures in that controversy was also receiving payments tied to individuals connected to First Liberty.

Dees said that information was not available to the board.

“We didn’t know about any of this at the time,” she said. “We followed the process, and the investigation showed there was no wrongdoing by the school system.”

What remains unanswered

The receiver’s report does not explain:

• why Menk received the payments
• what services, if any, they were tied to
• whether they were connected to specific transactions or relationships
• whether Menk was receiving commissions and brought financial fraud victims into the First Liberty Ponzi scheme

It does, however, establish that she was paid within a network that:

• included political figures
• intersected with local controversies
• and is now under scrutiny in a case involving tens of millions of dollars

Broader connections emerge

The receiver’s report is not the only place where names connected to local school systems appear alongside the First Liberty investigation.

In Fayette County, School Board Member Randy Hough has been assessed a $500,000 fine by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Securities Division and referred for criminal prosecution.

In Coweta County, Brant Frost V—a longtime political figure and son of First Liberty owner Edwin Brant Frost IV—has also been assessed a $500,000 fine and referred for prosecution to the Coweta District Attorney.

Those actions are separate from the receiver’s report, but they place additional individuals with ties to local school systems within the broader First Liberty case.

A story still unfolding

The Wilson Ware investigation cleared the school system of wrongdoing.

The receiver’s report adds new information that was not available at the time—showing that a central figure in that controversy also appears in financial records tied to the First Liberty operation.