A newbie restaurateur, Champion-Cain struggles to build a hospitality empire. But as expenses and debt mount, she masterminds an even bigger enterprise that for eight years was San Diego's best kept secret. Now she's in prison, and her victims still are out millions of dollars.
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Prominent San Diego businesswoman Gina Champion-Cain, who pleaded guilty in June 2020 to securities fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice for defrauding investors out of $400 million through a liquor-license loan funding program, learned her fate on Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns sentenced Champion-Cain to 15 years in prison the maximum sentence at the federal building on Front Street in downtown San Diego. Download our mobile app for iOS or Android to get the latest breaking news and local stories. During the hearing, several victims spoke to the judge, said Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Galvin outside court on Wednesday. Nearly 500 victims poured over $350 million into Champion-Cain s sham investment scheme. Ms. Champion-Cain did not use the money to finance liquor-license transactions, as she told investors. Rather, she used tens of millions of dollars to line her own pockets and to support her failing Patio
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