The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges Thursday against ANI Development, an investment company founded by well known San Diego businesswoman Gina Champion-Cain.

Federal agents called the company a “multi-year $300 million scheme” that defrauded approximately 50 retail investors in recent years.

The announcement came after investigators reached an agreement with Champion-Cain to freeze the company’s assets and allow the government to appoint a receiver to take control.

“The SEC took emergency action to stop what we allege is an egregious fraud,” said Michele Wein Layne, regional director of the SEC in Los Angeles. “Importantly, the agreement we reached with the defendants to freeze their assets during the litigation will give investors the best chance to maximize their recovery going forward.”


Champion-Cain declined to comment on the investigation or agreement, through a spokeswoman.

According to a 19-page complaint filed Wednesday, ANI Development fraudulently raised hundreds of millions of dollars since 2012 by claiming to investors that they could profit by issuing short-term, high-interest loans to people applying for alcohol licenses in California.

Instead of making loans with the investors’ money, Champion-Cain directed “significant amounts of investor funds” to a company that she controlled, according to the complaint.

“In exchange for her services, Cain and her company, ANI Development, told investors that defendants would secure an interest payment for each license approved by the state of California, which they would then split with investors,” the complaint alleges.


In one case, after an unnamed a high net worth real estate investor bypassed Champion-Cain and contacted an escrow company directly to check on his investment, the defendant sent an email apologizing to the escrow officers.

“I told them NEVER to call and bother you ladies,” Champion-Cain wrote in a July 2017 email, according to authorities. She concluded by saying, “[I]f they call asking about escrow agreements and alcohol licenses, blah, blah, blah… just say ‘SURE WHATEVER NOW SHOW ME THE MONEY… HAHAHAHA’”

In some cases, she promised investors returns of 15 to 25 percent in one year, the SEC said.

The complaint names Champion-Cain and ANI Development LLC, one of approximately 40 business interests controlled by Champion-Cain and her umbrella company, American National Investments Inc.


The defendants agreed to the asset freeze without admitting any guilt, federal officials said.

American National Investments is listed in the complaint as a relief defendant, meaning it is not accused of wrongdoing but received property or cash illegally.

In addition to allegedly steering investors’ money to other uses, Champion-Cain is accused in the complaint of using forged signatures to create escrow agreements to provide to investors, the complaint adds.

“Defendants provided their investors with forged and fabricated escrow agreements in order to lead them to believe that their investment was secure, and that ANI Development was using their funds – as represented to them – to finance the transfer of a liquor license,” the complaint said.


Federal investigators also accused Champion-Cain of misrepresenting facts to investors.

“Cain acted knowingly, recklessly, and negligently in making material misstatements and omissions concerning ANI Development’s investment strategy and use of funds, and she failed to exercise reasonable care to ensure that investors were not deceived as to this information,” they wrote in their complaint.

Champion-Cain, 57, has been a well-known San Diego business leader for years.

She earned an MBA from the University of San Diego in 1994 before founding American National Investments, according to her biography on the university website. She is credited with redeveloping or repositioning 10 million square feet of commercial real estate space and more than 5,000 residential units.


In addition to real estate development, Champion-Cain has dabbled in restaurants such as the Patio, nightclubs such as the House of Blues and even beachwear.

She served on the board of the now-defunct Centre City Development Corp. and on a panel of business experts who contribute to the weekly Econometer feature in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

In a 2015 interview, she told the Union-Tribune there was a commonality to her investments.

“I’m in the people business and, if you understand you’re in the hospitality business, you know it’s all about pleasing people, whether I’m providing them a great meal or a nice place to stay, or a nice shop where they’re buying my surf attire,” she said. “I really see it as one. As a company, we really are one family. I have some superstars that run these different businesses and they are committed, which you can tell because they’re doing well.”


She also is active in local politics, co-hosting a $250-per-plate fundraiser in April at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club for Todd Gloria, the San Diego assemblyman now running for mayor.

The SEC action is a civil proceeding. It was not clear Thursday whether the case has been referred to criminal investigators.

Staff writers Morgan Cook and Lori Weisberg contributed to this report