As investors reel from the collapse of Newnan-based First Liberty Building & Loan in an alleged $140 million Ponzi scheme, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is pushing for more authority for his office to root out financial fraudsters and recover money for victims.

In an opinion piece published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday, Raffensperger said Georgia’s securities division, a unit within his office, “currently lacks the tools and authority to proactively stop schemes like this or to move quickly on behalf of victims.”

His office, he added, has “limited enforcement power in a state where financial fraud can too easily take root and too slowly be punished.”

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused First Liberty founder Brant Frost IV in a l

See Full Page