All language subtitles for American Greed s15e14 California Schemin

You're watching CNBC On Demand.

In this episode of American Greed, the
queen of commercial real estate poses in

the spotlight, but operates in the
shadows.

When you come to my home to eat, this is
the atmosphere you would experience.

Champion Kane admitted in court that she
was the mastermind of a massive...

$400 million Ponzi scheme.

Gina Champion Kane is on the cover of
magazines.

She sits on influential boards and wins
awards.

In San Diego, she's kind of a big deal.

Since then, you know, as a real estate
developer and business owner, I also own

10 restaurants.

I know I'm crazy.

Gina wanted to build an empire.

The mayor even named June 28, 2006, Gina
Champion Kane Day.

She's a powerful woman entrepreneur in
San Diego.

Like, wow, how do I become that someday?

But Champion Kane isn't the role model
she seems to be.

When she gets involved in the liquor
licensing business, she becomes drunk

power and masterminds one of the largest
frauds in San Diego history.

I mean, you could argue this was a $400
million business enterprise.

And here, this woman pulls it off.

But the enterprising entrepreneur isn't
the successful businesswoman she

pretends to be.

In fact, over the seven years of her
scheme, she used about $60 million of

investor funds to prop up her failing
businesses.

Because the architect of the largest
woman -run Ponzi scheme in U .S. history

has a dark origin story.

And the ironic thing is I was actually a
victim of a Ponzi scheme.

Yeah, yeah, that's where the idea came
from, isn't it?

In January 2022, a massive equity fund
claims they have been swindled out of

million, and they want their money back.

Their lawyers believe one person in
particular has the answers.

Gina Champkin Kane.

Do you solemnly swear that the testimony
you're about to give will be the truth,

the whole truth, nothing but the truth,
under penalty of perjury?

I do.

Though Champion Kane is not the focus of
this particular lawsuit, she does have

a lot to explain.

Am I correct that for purposes of this
deposition, you're sitting in a prison?

Yes.

Over the next five and a half hours,
Champion Kane will describe eight years

her life, during which she not only
duped this fund, but also contrived to

more than $350 million.

from almost 500 investors and the
conversation won't always be easy

i'm being honest i have nothing to lie
for i'm i'm already incarcerated you can

continue to skew me all you want it's
not gonna affect me either way i'm

in prison i'm already being punished i'm
already remorseful i'm already

This isn't what she has in mind when she
comes to San Diego from Michigan in the

late 80s to make a name for herself.

She came out, she graduated from the
University of Michigan, moved out to San

Diego, and ended up getting her MBA at
the University of San Diego.

After getting her MBA, she ended up
deciding to form her own company, and

was American National Investments, or
ANI.

Even the name is ambitious.

Champion Kane doesn't just want to
conquer real estate in the Gaslamp

in downtown San Diego.

She wants to conquer commercial real
estate across the entire country.

It's so great to meet you.
Congratulations on the second location.

Thank you very much. Very excited. Very
excited.

Neil Centuria spends nearly 50 hours
interviewing Champion Kane for his book,

Did It, the largest woman -run Ponzi
scheme in American history. As told to

Centuria... and Barbara Brie.

And according to him, her ambition isn't
for money, but for glory.

I think her ambition was to be famous.

I think that you have to understand that
if you pick real estate development,

it's pretty high profile.

And they write articles about you. And
if you're right, you make a lot of

She really was a compelling figure, and
not just because she was a woman

entrepreneur, but she had a certain
charisma.

My presentation is not as deep as
everybody else's on this. You know, I'm

the real estate girl. What innovative
real estate can we do?

Very compelling personality and seemed
very bright and seemed to have a lot of

business acumen.

Howard Greenberg is intricately involved
in real estate development in San

Diego, and he's quite aware of Champion
Cane's rising star.

She quickly became the chairman of the
Downtown San Diego Partnership.

She got involved with the Center City
Development Corporation, and she was

adept at interweaving herself into the
fabric of the downtown.

Good morning.

A lot of smart people in this room, and
I'm just proud to be part of their

environment this morning, so thank you.

But according to many involved, the
credit isn't entirely deserved.

She was very good at interweaving
herself in the political and business

community, and for that was rewarded,
I'd say, and did a lot of self

without a lot of backup.

I learned little by little that many of
the kinds of projects she claimed to

have been the developer of, she was not.

So high -rise luxury condominiums that
she claimed to have been an equity

partner in, a developer in, she was not.

In many ways, she conned people into
believing that she had done much more

she had, and she was masterful at
promoting herself.

Whether legitimate or not, the media is
ready to be her champion.

You haven't checked out the front porch,
you have to check it out. Thank you so

much, Gina. Thank you.

She was really famous in this town,
but...

It's a man's game, and it's sharp elbows
and big money.

And she was really good, but she was
fighting the famous glass ceiling.

But champion Kane wants the world to
know that she's ready for the fight.

She is featured on magazine covers, in
profiles and podcasts.

as a woman to be reckoned with in the
San Diego development scene.

She's what I like to call a hot witch,
you know? I mean, she's fabulous and

gorgeous and super successful, and I'm
super excited to hear what she's got on

her plate.

I love being a developer. I love real
estate, and I love seeing transformation

in communities.

She climbed so high in public estimation
that in 2006, the San Diego mayor

declares June 28th Gina Champion Cane
Day.

But things are about to get shaky in
Southern California real estate.

It was perhaps the worst financial
collapse since the Great Depression.

With the economic crash in 2008,
commercial development screeches to a

Housing prices plummeted.

And mortgage investments went sour.

And like most everyone else, champion
Cain can't avoid the fallout.

Coming out of the downturn in the late
2000s, she felt desperation. She felt

desperation to make money for herself,
for her family, and for friends.

She decides it may be a good time to
pivot into a different industry.

But she gets there almost by accident.

She sees a piece of land in Pacific
Beach.

And it's perfect for apartments.

It's an old restaurant. It's kind of
favored by the community.

And she ties it up.

She's going to tear the restaurant down
and she's going to build apartments.

The community has an uprising and said,
no, no, we don't want to lose the

restaurant.

So she goes home to her husband and she
says, Steve,

we're going to be in the restaurant
business.

And it's there, of course, where she
learns that you have to get a liquor

license.

The restaurant is called The Patio on
Lamont Street, and it will soon become

epicenter of the biggest Ponzi scheme in
San Diego history.

When American Greed returns,

Gina Champion Kane launches a $350
million fraud.

I came up with the idea that a lending
business would be a good idea.

But it may be more than she bargained
for.

By all appearances, Gina Champion Kane
is living her best life. Her reputation

in Southern California real estate is
growing.

as she sits on multiple influential
boards in Southern California and is

featured in magazines, social media, and
TV programs like California Life. When

you come to my home to eat, this is the
atmosphere you would experience.

But for her, it's never enough.

After she opened up that first patio
restaurant in 2011, she starts to

that there's this process that you need
to go through in order to purchase a

liquor license.

Just like when you transfer title of
your car and you have to file it with

DMV, in order to transfer title of an
alcoholic beverage license, you have to

file an application with the ABC.

ABC is the Department of Alcoholic
Beverage Control, and the regulations

that within 30 days, all applicants
buying a liquor license from a previous

owner must put the full cost of the
license in an escrow account.

By law, the money is locked away until
the transaction...

is either approved or abandoned, which
can take months or even years.

And having your cold, hard cash locked
away in a virtual safe can be quite

problematic.

They can be very expensive. It depends
on the area, it depends on the type of

license, but they can be anywhere from
tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds

of thousands of dollars.

And it just sits there until the ABC
approves or rejects your application for

the transfer of the liquor license.

But Champion Kane says this hardship for
entrepreneurs could actually turn into

a benefit for everyone.

She thinks she can help the little guy
starting a bar or restaurant while at

same time turning a tidy profit for
herself and investors.

So Gina Champion Kane recognized an
opportunity.

She began pitching investors that she
would lend these restaurants who were

trying to purchase liquor licenses.

the money that they needed to put into
an escrow account for as long as they

needed it.

In theory, it's a bridge loan.

The funding from deep -pocketed
investors means the hopeful bar owner

need to front any money at all. In
exchange, when the license is approved

transferred, the applicant pays the
seller full price for the license, as

as between 15 % and 25 % interest to the
investor for fronting the money, at

which point...

the investor gets their loan back from
escrow.

For investors, it seems like a no -lose
situation because the money is held in

escrow at one of the largest insurance
companies in the world, Chicago Title.

The worst that can happen, or so
Champion Kane says, is that investors

money back if the applicant doesn't pay.

The problem is, the loan isn't
necessary.

She's fabricated the entire scheme.

According to Michael Brewer, despite
state regulations,

liquor license applicants can defer
funding the escrow account for as long

they want.

They can just send an email asking for
the funding date to be extended, and

have never refused it in my experience.

Therefore, applicants have no real need
for a loan, and Champion Cane's lending

platform has no real market.

Unless she makes one up.

She provides a list of supposed liquor
license applicants to investors and

them to pull from the top shelf.

Mark Kramer, who later files a civil
lawsuit against Champion Jane and other

entities, believes these lists are
totally bogus.

People could look at these lists and
choose which ones they wanted to invest

Oftentimes, what Gina would do,
particularly for a first -time investor,

I'll go in on this first one with you.
We'll be co -investors together.

And that added even more credibility. If
Gina's putting her own money at risk

for this, then this is truly a no
-brainer. I can't lose.

I can only win.

Maybe, if it were true.

Unfortunately, none of these supposed
liquor license applicants on her list

actually want to borrow any money.

Champion Kane just pretends they do.

The whole thing is a fantasy.

Seems that from day one, this was
hatched as a fraudulent scheme.

But her contacts in the business world
don't know that. They believe that

Champion Kane is pitching a sure thing.

So at the beginning of her scheme,
Champion Kane relied on individuals that

knew from the business community who
began investing.

And over time, you had others who
became...

In effect, they would go out and find
their own investors.

The aggregators then pooled the money
from other investors and put that money

into the investment program.

Can you please tell us who Mr. Peterson
is?

Mr. Peterson, Ken Peterson is or was one
of the main

investors, lenders into the liquor
license program.

Tim Peterson is also a real estate
developer in San Diego.

But his initial relationship with
champion Kane is social.

She and her husband were a member of the
same golf club that I belonged to in

San Diego. So I started to see her then,
starting about, you know, maybe 2010.

And then one morning we had coffee
together just to talk about business

development and real estate development.

And that kind of morphed into, you know,
the relationship.

One day in 2013, champion Kane lures
Peterson into her lending scheme.

And Peterson takes the bait.

He makes a $200 ,000 investment.

My view of it at the time was that I
like Gina. I trusted Gina. I understand

logic of the platform.

It made sense to me. And so I thought,
well, I'll try. I'll do one of these or

two of these and see how it plays out.

So that's how it kind of started, and
then it just kind of started to get a

little bit bigger and a little bit
bigger.

It keeps getting bigger because Peterson
keeps seeing positive returns.

Soon, Peterson begins to recruit more
investors into the program, and his

involvement builds so large that he
starts his own company, Kim Funding LLC,

exclusively to raise money for the
program.

I knew a fair amount of people in San
Diego, and I had...

lending relationships with banks through
my real estate development business. So

I started talking to banks. I started
talking to high net worth individuals.

What Peterson's investors don't have is
a deep knowledge of liquor license

transfers. And that's exactly how
Champion Cane likes it.

I don't think any of the people she
approached had a big knowledge or

intricately involved in any of the
process of achieving a liquor license.

think that was purposeful.

And that includes nearly 500 investors.

For Champion Cane, her investors'
ignorance is bliss.

Eventually, Peterson's company alone
ushers $140 million into Champion Cane's

program. And not a single dollar of it
goes toward a liquor license loan.

But all Peterson knows is that he's
making money.

You know, in hindsight, I look at that
and go like, well, should I have spent

more time being concerned about that?

You know, I just wasn't at the time
because they're wearing me all this

mean, hundreds of millions of dollars,
you know, in and out all the time.

And so the idea that there's something
wrong here just didn't register.

Do you also understand that a classic
Ponzi scheme is built on trickery and

lies?

Yes, ma 'am.

And you did create, develop, and operate
a Ponzi scheme, didn't you?

Yes.

First and foremost, like in any
fraudulent scheme or policy scheme like

Gina had to use proceeds from new
investors to pay old investors.

Over the life of the scheme, which was
approximately 2012 to 2019, Champion

paid out several hundred million dollars
back to investors. And ultimately,

investors lost over $180 million.

But she still paid out a lot of money to
investors to generate this interest in

the program and to keep it going.

In fact, not only are there no real
loans, there are no real escrow

All money that investors expect is going
into escrow is actually going into an

account entirely under Champion Cane's
control.

Gina got her hands on the money that was
sent to Chicago Title because Gina is

the only person entity who had an
agreement with Chicago Title that was

That agreement didn't provide for an
actual escrow at all. It was called a

holding fund escrow, but it's
effectively a slush fund for Gina to use

she saw fit, and it's the opposite of
what escrow is all about.

But it's exactly what Champion Kane is
all about, lying her way to fame and

fortune.

When American Greed returns, don't get
too friendly with Gina Champion Kane.

Even those closest to her aren't safe
from her scheme.

So it's exciting to have money to use,
but yeah, lost that.

In 2011, Gina Champion Kane has decided
to branch out from real estate

development and expand into other
industries.

In the beginning, it's restaurants, but
she doesn't stop there.

Her fame is only growing.

Over the next several years, she
continues to appear in the media and

local business conferences.

As a real estate developer and business
owner, I also own 10 restaurants.

I know I'm crazy.

And she has no intention of leaving the
spotlight.

In the late 2000s, around 2008, you have
this large economic downturn. And at

that point, she decides to reinvent
herself.

And what she decides to do is go into
more of the hospitality and the retail

industry. She purchases some homes in
Mission Beach and turns them into hotels

under the Love Surf brand.

She starts selling accessories at a
store called Love Surf.

You know, women's beach fashion, towels,
things like that. And from there, it

really increases her investment in the
retail side of her businesses.

Lotus Surf is pretty much a brand.

Pamela Corey is living in Massachusetts
in 2013 when a simple vacation to San

Diego changes her life.

I had fell in love with the area, and I
knew this was the place I wanted to be.

I just went online and kind of Googled
things in the area that seemed of

interest to me and sent my resume to
anybody who would look at it.

So, yeah, I guess it tickled their
fancy.

Love Surf hires her, and Corey thinks
she's made the best decision of her

She and her new boss, Gina Champion
Kane, hit it off.

She was intimidating.

Good way to me, I guess. You know, it's
like I looked up to her because I'm

like, wow, she's this powerful woman
entrepreneur in San Diego.

It's like, wow, how do I become that
someday?

But she was also very kind to me.

I'd go to her home for Thanksgiving, for
just to stop by and have wine.

And I saw her almost every day, you
know, because she was always in the

And the shop is thriving.

So Champion Kane does what she always
does, goes bigger.

Well, the boutique was doing great, so
that's why we decided to open more

stores. And then as time went on, we
kind of noticed that the numbers weren't

really doing as well as they had
initially been doing.

And it was kind of confusing as to why
we were opening more stores when our

numbers weren't matching the growth.

Champion Kane doesn't seem too concerned
with numbers not matching up.

especially when it's not her money.

Over the life of the scheme, Champion
Kane's business grew.

She continued to hire more and more
employees, family members, friends,

of family members.

At one point, she talked about 700
employees.

I mean, that's huge. Obviously, they
weren't all in her office. They were

employed in all these different
businesses and restaurants.

But that's a huge enterprise.

They were constantly bringing on tons of
team members and paying big salaries.

And so I was like, huh, how is she doing
all of this when, you know, all of

these other businesses aren't doing that
well?

So, but I just thought she, you know,
just had a lot of money.

In a way, she does.

It's just not hers.

To the outside world, a lot of these
businesses and restaurants appeared

successful, but really, they were losing
money.

And Champion Kane was using money from
investors to prop up these failing

businesses. In fact, over the seven
years of her scheme, she used about $60

million of investor funds to prop up her
failing businesses.

But the socialite is not all business.

While she uses much of the stolen money
to amplify her appearance of

professional success,

she also takes a little something for
herself she also used millions of

to pay for personal expenses she used
millions of dollars to pay for her own

salary each year she purchased a home in
rancho mirage california she purchased

another home in mission beach california
She spent hundreds of thousands on

jewelry from expensive stores like
Tiffany.

But if Champion Kane is going to keep up
this lifestyle, she's going to need

help. And she's brazen enough to try to
enlist one of the biggest companies in

the world to provide it.

Up next on American Greed, Champion Kane
is trading on the name of a banking

king, but it's actually the pawns that
help her orchestrate her gambit.

She needs them not to blow the whistle
on her or become uncooperative.

She needs to keep them doing what
they're doing.

In San Diego, Gina Champion Kane's fraud
continues to grow.

But as it grows, so does her dependence
on her escrow provider, Chicago Title.

She's had a legitimate relationship with
the insurance giant for years while

developing commercial real estate.

And now she wants to exploit that
relationship through her liquor license

lending scheme.

I've probably talked with close to 100
of the victims of this scheme, and every

single one of them told me some
variation of, I would never have given

of money.

to gina i wouldn't even give this kind
of money to my family members or friends

i gave that money because i knew it was
going to be in an escrow account held by

chicago title chicago title may seem
invulnerable to the outside world but

according to several lawsuits filed
against them there may be a disease

incubating within time will tell exactly
to what extent who knew

what when a chicago title but There is
evidence that a number of the escrow

officers and others within the
organization were aware of what Gina was

But if they are aware, Champion Kane
wants to make sure they're insulated

her fraud.

She created this buffer between
investors and Chicago Title.

So Champion Kane would tell investors,
you can't talk to the people at Chicago

Title who run this program. They're too
busy. They have too much going on. If

you start to talk to them, you can't
invest in the program anymore.

On the flip side, she would tell the
individuals working at Chicago Title,

worry, you don't need to talk to my
investors. If they reach out to you, you

ignore them. I'll tell them that you're
too busy.

So by doing that, she created the
separation, this buffer, so that the

weren't talking to Chicago Title and
Chicago Title wasn't talking to the

investors.

There may be a buffer between investors
and Chicago Title, but Champion Kane

communicates often with two Chicago
Title employees in particular.

The emails going back and forth between
them are very familiar, very casual, and

they're funny and entertaining in some
ways.

The emails were very, like, almost like
a girlfriend talking to another

girlfriend.

I have always promised you I would
shelter you from my crazy investors, and

will continue to do so.

If any one of them bug you, as they are
too stupid to understand the program,

then they are fired as an investor.

I have plenty of dudes dying to give me
money, honey.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Love you, ladies.

She didn't want anybody saying anything
that could hurt the scheme, so she

wanted to control the narrative. And so
she would say that in a friendly manner

in these emails, but the bottom line
was, it was like, keep your mouth shut.

I'll take care of everything.

Even if the loan officers aren't acutely
aware of Campion Kane's scheme, they

certainly take advantage of the perks
she offers.

I gave jewelry.

champagne, baseball tickets, Chargers
suite tickets. We had corporate suites

there. And it isn't always just perks.

As Champion Kane testifies later, she
sometimes straight -up bolsters the

Chicago Title employees' bank accounts
to try to keep them in her favor.

Did you write a $13 ,000 check in
January 2018?

Yes. Did you write Betty?

And a $5 ,000 check in January 2018?

Yes. How did Miss respond to getting
these gifts from you?

Well, she was very thankful.

And how about Miss?

Betty was very thankful.

So people got perks.

And at the grand scheme of things,
you're talking about $400 million, and

perks were, I don't know, $20 ,000, $30
,000, nothing.

But you belonged.

It's a little bit like when you go to
the nightclub and the guy waves you in

everybody else is standing behind the
rope.

You feel special.

And I think in the case of these two
women, I think that was important that

got to feel they were part of an inside
group.

If feeling special does encourage the
loan officers to be willfully ignorant,

Champion Kane certainly gives them
plenty of reasons to turn a blind eye.

For example, the escrow agreements that
are the root of the entire fraud.

When an investor would put in money at
Chicago Title, Champion Kane would

provide them with an escrow agreement.
And this escrow agreement would say that

Chicago Title held the money and that
they couldn't do anything with the money

except for send it back to the investor
at the end of the application process.

Those escrow agreements were fake.

Gina Champion Kane created them, she
forged signatures on them, and she gave

them to investors.

It's a lot of work to steal that much
money.

I mean, you could argue this was a $400
million business enterprise. I mean, it

was like operating a really complex
business. And here, this woman pulls it

Where did Champion Kane learn such
dazzling skills?

Maybe she'd had a taste before.

When American Greed returns.

The biggest fraudster in San Diego
history started out on the other end of

scam. The ironic thing is I was actually
a victim of a Ponzi scheme.

Yeah, yeah, that's where the idea came
from, isn't it?

Want more greed?

Follow us on Instagram, connect on
Facebook, and listen to the American

podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

We'll be right back.

By the end of her fraud, Gina Champion
Kane has orchestrated the largest Ponzi

scheme in San Diego history.

Ironically, it echoes a fraud she and a
group of partners were victims of just

10 years earlier.

So, Gina, she wanted to do this huge
downtown development project. It was a

million project, so obviously you need
financing.

And they found a private equity fund.

which claims to be backed by a lot of
European high net worth individuals who

were looking to invest in real estate
development in the United States.

And so in order to make a loan
application, they were required to

$300 ,000 into a Florida bank.

Champion Kane and her partners make the
$300 ,000 deposit.

and are soon provided with all the
paperwork indicating that the financing

their project has been approved.

All they have to do is wait for the
money to come flowing in.

Months go by and the funds don't come in
and they don't come in.

And eventually, Gina learns it's a
fraud.

The money's gone.

And he learned that it was all...

created by these fraudsters who invented
a fake lending business, right?

Correct. They fabricated forged emails,
forged documents, forged letters of

credit, correct?

Yes. All to convince you and the other
developers that they defrauded, that

their money would be safe, correct?

Correct.

But maybe the experience teaches
Champion Kane a lesson.

A lesson that brings in more than $350
million from investors.

In the course of that scheme that she
was a victim of, she comes to find out

that all of these documents that she'd
been receiving from the private equity

fund were forgeries and fabrications,
including, for example, documentation

about letters of credit that secured
their $300 ,000 deposit.

So what should have been a cautionary
tale for Gina ends up...

planting a seed or inspiring her to
launch the scheme that she did.

If the experience plants a seed, the
fruits of her fraud are about to be

because people are starting to catch on
to her.

Along the way, were there challenges you
had that came up where you were at risk

or in danger of being caught?

The big one.

In 2017, Kim Peterson reaches out to
Torrey Pines Bank looking for a $5

loan to invest in the licensing program.

Torrey Pines is a big real estate bank,
well -known.

And they agree to lend him $5 million,
which he's going to put into the liquor

license program of Gina, and he's going
to make money on it.

But before Torrey Pines will make the
loan, they want to see some backup and

Kim Peterson to provide copies of his
escrow agreements.

He provides copies of agreements from
Chicago Title representing a total of

million, signed by a supposed Chicago
Title employee, Wendy Reynolds.

And one of the bankers called down
Chicago Title because they were confused

about the wiring instructions and asked
for Wendy Reynolds.

And they said, you know, that we don't
know a Wendy Reynolds here.

It's a made -up name.

Gina made it up.

In a careless blunder, Champion Kane
forges the name of a fictitious person

Peterson's escrow agreements.

And while Tory Pryne is unraveling that
mystery, Michael Brewer is doing some

digging of his own when a client asks
him about the lending program.

He called me up out of the blue.

and asked me, well, what did I think of
this, and would I look into it for him?

And I immediately had a number of
concerns with the documents that were

to him because they were deals that did
not require liquor license escrows.

So those were automatically red flags
that, no, there's no escrow on these, so

why would they need to borrow money
because there's no escrow required in

first place?

And going through the due diligence
platform we discovered came to the

conclusion that it was a Ponzi scheme.

And Brewer isn't the only one beginning
to see the light.

When American Greed returns, the feds
are after Champion Kane, and she knows

will only end one way.

Yeah, they never work.

Responding teams never work.

Everyone knows that. Right.

In May 2019,

Gina Champion Kane received a disturbing
letter from the SEC announcing that she

is under investigation.

But she isn't ready for last call.

On the one hand, she was cooperative
with their investigation, but behind

doors, she was doing everything she
could to thwart the government's

investigation of her scheme.

She instructed employees not to produce
certain documents that were

incriminating. She ordered employees in
the accounting department to alter

accounting records to make it look like
she didn't use investor funds for

personal expenses.

She ordered employees to shred a huge
volume of hard copy documents that were

incriminating. Even after she knew that
the government was investigating her

scheme, she continued to try to get
money from investors. She couldn't stop.

She tried to get $150 million.

to add to her fund with this misguided
belief that with that additional money

she could keep it going, that she could
make all the government investigators go

away, prop up her business, and
everything would be fine.

We were working on the patio marketplace
IPO that we were going to take that

public and put it out there and get the
money back to pay the folks the

outstanding debt back. And that was the
goal.

You know, when you hear that, it almost
sounds like the addicted gambler who

wants to go to the blackjack table one
more time. She was convinced that the

strength of her portfolio was going to,
by taking it public, she could pay

everyone back.

She doesn't just mind the big pockets of
San Diego.

She even takes advantage of her loyal
acolytes and friends for every dollar

can get to save her scheme and her skin.

no matter what the circumstance.

When Pamela Corey's father dies, she
inherits $20 ,000 and she entrusts it

to her mentor, Gina Champion Kane.

It's the first investment she's ever
made.

You know, before I was just kind of
living paycheck to paycheck, you know,

kind of living your normal life.

And yeah, so it's exciting to have money
to use.

But she might as well be flushing it all
down the toilet.

because the feds are about to break down
the door.

The same day Champion Kane receives her
letter from the SEC, Kim Peterson is

also subpoenaed.

He thinks it must all be a
misunderstanding, but Peterson is the

understand.

They start showing me all these escrow
documents, and I go, yeah, yeah, yeah,

identify all the stuff, and they ask me
questions for seven, eight hours, you

know, about the business and all the
stuff.

Nothing unusual.

And then at the end, they give me this,
the final document they gave me was a

holding agreement.

The document is stunning.

It's an agreement between Champion Kane
and Chicago Title forged by Champion

Kane entirely without Peterson's
knowledge.

It allows Champion Kane access to the
hundreds of millions of dollars that

Peterson believes is being held safely
in his own escrow accounts.

He asks his lawyers to look into it and
gets terrible news.

Not only is the document real, but all
his escrow agreements are fake.

He called and said, all those escrows
are fraudulent and there's only $11

million in this account. It was not $140
million.

And I just went, oh my God.

So that is when, you know, then we knew
that there was, you know, a big problem.

It's becoming a big problem for Champion
Kane as well. On August 28, 2019, the

SEC freezes all of her and American
National Investments assets.

And in July 2020, criminal charges are
filed.

Champion Kane admitted under oath in
court.

that she was the mastermind of a massive
$400 million Ponzi scheme.

Ultimately, Gina Champion Kane pleaded
guilty, accepted responsibility for her

role in orchestrating the biggest Ponzi
scheme in the history of San Diego.

Over seven years, she brought in nearly
$400 million from investors.

Investors lost over $180 million, and
she used tens of millions of dollars to

prop up her businesses and for her own
personal expenses.

Despite the betrayal as Champion Jane
awaits sentencing, Pamela Corey remains

touch with the woman she once admired.

She didn't directly say, I'm sorry. She
just said, I promise you'll get all your

money back, you know, and I'm going to
pay everybody back.

But she said she felt like she had a
weight lifted off her shoulders, like

slept better at night because now she
doesn't have to carry this huge lie

with her.

So I don't know.

It's hard to get into the mind of a
sociopath.

At sentencing, the judge's gavel lands
hard.

Champion Kane was sentenced to 15 years
in prison, and what's interesting and

significant about this sentencing was
that federal prosecutors had actually

asked for a 130 -month sentence, which
is about 12 years, and the judge

didn't think that was enough and tacked
more years onto her sentence.

For many, justice was served.

She defrauded all of San Diego and
Mission Beach, and, you know, it's a

to drive by the stores and see them all
closed down.

You know, but there's just bad karma in
there.

This whole place needs to be saged.

Over the course of speaking with
Champion Kane while researching his

Centurio says one interaction with her
stands out.

There's a moment when I ask her the
following question. I say, Gina, if

you'd only had the one really good
restaurant, the patio, and two or three

vacation rentals, Would it have been
enough?

And there's a moment, and I think she
nods and says, yeah.

And so the question for all of us in
some ways is, how much is enough?