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A longtime San Diego business and real estate figure on Wednesday was sentenced to 15 years in prison for a massive scheme that defrauded investors out of nearly $400 million.
Gina Champion-Cain previously admitted to obtaining more than $350 million from investors as part of a fake liquor-license loan funding program, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.
Prosecutors in the case argued that Champion-Cain along with co-conspirators instead used funds from investors to “support her other businesses and her lifestyle.”
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Court records indicated that the woman was able to maintain the scheme and hide it from investors by forging documents and signatures, and “telling investors lies through fake email accounts so that when investors attempted to double-check on their investments with third parties, they were often really communicating with the defendant or her employees,” according
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