San Diego businesswoman sentenced to 15 years in prison for Ponzi scheme

A San Diego businesswoman who orchestrated a nearly 400 million Ponzi scheme, in which she took investor funds intended as loans for liquor licenses and funneled the money into her companies and for personal purchases, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in federal prison. Gina ChampionCain, 57, ran what prosecutors characterized in court documents as the largest known Ponzi scheme in the history of the Southern District of California, which encompasses San Diego and Imperial counties. Full story on