Kemp signs financial fraud bill the same day as Frost indictment

(The Center Square) – Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill Thursday that could help victims of financial fraud recoup some of their funds.

Senate Bill 284 allows the Securities commissioner to order those accused of fraud to return the money to their victims without a court order. The commissioner, also the secretary of state, could previously only invoke civil penalties that were remitted to the state.

“This law provides the teeth we need to demand justice and ensures that those who seek to defraud our citizens will face the full weight of the law,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said.

The bill signing comes on the same day that federal prosecutors indicted former Newnan bank manager Edwin Brant Frost IV on a wire fraud charge.

Investors were told by Frost that they were investing in what he called “Bridge Loans,” which were short-term loans provided to businesses, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. Investors were to...