FROSTOPUS UPDATE: GRA’s Nathaniel Darnell Terminated From Bankers Life Securities

In July, I laid out why a licensed broker’s involvement in the Frostopus is not a footnote, but central to how so many regular people got pulled into a deal they never should have been near. Today there is a new development that adds weight to that case.

FINRA’s BrokerCheck now shows that Timothy Nathaniel Darnell was discharged by Bankers Life Securities and Bankers Life Advisory Services on September 12, 2025. The disclosure cites failure to disclose outside business activities, participation in undisclosed and unapproved private securities transactions, and using off-channel communications with clients in violation of firm policies. One day earlier, on September 11, a customer arbitration was filed alleging unsuitable recommendations, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, misrepresentation, and “selling away” tied to the First Liberty scheme. Claimed damages are $1,000,000.

If you missed the backdrop, read our previous piece walking through the rules on referral fees, supervision, and why “selling away” is a bright-line problem whether a referral fee was paid or not. That post also included Darnell’s statement to Peach Pundit and the questions he declined to answer.

This Darnell update matters because trust is the currency here. Investors trusted a licensed advisor. They trusted that if a broker was involved, the recommendation to invest in the Frostopus had been vetted or at least disclosed to a firm that would supervise it. When that trust is abused, the damage spreads. It is not only the money lost, its confidence in every other honest advisor who now has to climb out of the crater left by people who cut corners.

There is also a political piece because Darnell is still listed as the President and CEO of the Georgia Republican Assembly. The GRA can publish all the resolutions it wants about integrity, but to this point they continue to back their guy regardless of how he has been implicated in the largest political scandal in recent memory.

A quick word before the chorus starts; I am not dancing on the man’s grave. I do not take joy in anyone’s professional fall, and I am mindful that Darnell has said his family lost money, too. I do hope he is held accountable if he abused his role as a trusted advisor to steer people into a Ponzi scheme. Accountability is not cruelty. It is how you begin to repair the damage and warn off the next would-be shortcut artist.

For readers trying to track the strands:

• The enforcement lane: the SEC’s civil case froze assets and put a receiver in place so victims have a shot at restitution.
• The criminal lane: DOJ decides if wire fraud or other criminal charges are warranted.
• The civil-recovery lane: victims can pursue those who weren’t named by the SEC but allegedly helped sell or promote the scheme, including licensed brokers and the firms that failed to supervise them. We explained that framework in detail in the July post.

The facts today are straightforward. A licensed broker tied to First Liberty referrals has been terminated for cause. A customer case alleging selling away and more is pending. He still serves as President of the GRA. Those are not speculative claims. They are on the record.

As always, if you are a victim and are willing to share your story, reach out. Peach Pundit will treat you with respect and protect your privacy while we verify details. And if you are a candidate or committee that took money traceable to the Frostopus, do the right thing and return it to the Receiver. That money never belonged to you. It belongs to the people who got hurt.

We will keep following the tentacles wherever they lead.