Emily Chan
On the surface, Gina Champion-Cain appeared to be a highly successful entrepreneur and real estate developer based in San Diego. She owned a bunch of retail stores and restaurants.
However, she actually built her business with money she gained in a massive Ponzi scheme. Her scam brought in more than $350 million from unsuspecting liquor license applicants, earning her the title of the largest female-run Ponzi scheme in the history of the United States.
In the late 1980s, Champion-Cain moved to San Diego from Michigan. She dreamed of being a famous real estate developer and started her own company called American National Investments.
Soon enough, she became well-known in the area. She was featured in podcasts and television interviews and attended government meetings.
Champion-Cain was skilled at promoting herself. She conned people into believing that she was more successful than she really was. For instance, she claimed that she was an equity partner of high-rise luxury condominiums, even though she was not.
When the recession hit in 2008, she began exploring ventures aside from commercial development, landing in the hospitality industry. In 2012, she started developing her Ponzi scheme, which targeted liquor license applicants.
To secure a liquor license, applicants needed to pay the full cost of the license into an escrow account while they waited for the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control to approve or deny their application.
A liquor license can cost up to tens of thousands of dollars, and not all restaurant owners have that kind of money. So, Champion-Cain came up with an idea to help them out. She created a program to loan applicants the funds they needed.
The funds were all from investors. Once their licenses were approved by the state of California, the applicants would repay the money in addition to interest.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
