Gina Champion-Cain was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison for her role in a $400 million Ponzi scheme. Champion-Cain had pled guilty to securities fraud, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice in June 2020.
According to a Department of Justice news release:
“When she pleaded guilty on July 22, 2020, Champion-Cain admitted that she raised more than $350 million from investors by promising to use their money to make loans to business owners who were attempting to acquire California liquor licenses. The investors were unaware, however, that Champion-Cain was not keeping her promise.
According to court records, Champion-Cain and her co-conspirators instead used funds from new investors to pay back others whose investments would soon be redeemed, and embezzled funds to support her other businesses and her lifestyle. Champion-Cain and her co-conspirators kept the scheme going by, among other things, fabricating documents, forging 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.”
The news release also detailed how Gina Champion-Cain used investor funds to fund her own personal business endeavors:
“Champion-Cain also stole tens of millions of dollars of investor funds to keep her other businesses afloat and enrich herself. Because many of Champion-Cain’s restaurant and retail businesses were failing or had negative cash flow, they needed funds to meet expenses. Time after time, Champion-Cain and Torres worked together to steal millions of dollars of investor funds to cover the shortfall. Champion-Cain also spent millions of investor dollars to pay for her own salary, box seats at professional baseball and football games, credit card bills, automobiles, jewelry, and other personal luxuries.”
Fishman Haygood’s Investment Fraud Division has experiences bringing claims on behalf of investors who were the victims of Ponzi schemes, including against Allen Stanford.
If you believe you have suffered losses due to the advice and/or actions of your broker or investment advisor, please contact us to discuss your possible claim.
