In August 2019, Gina’s seven-year program of selling phony liquor license loans came to an end when the SEC, the US Attorney’s Office, and the FBI filed suit and shut it down. In San Diego, Gina, then fifty-four, was an icon. To the outside world, this beautiful, charismatic woman looked as if she had succeeded in a male-dominated good old boys club—building an empire that included real estate, restaurants, and retail; she was a guest economics commentator for the San Diego Union-Tribune; she served on prestigious corporate and nonprofit boards. The City of San Diego even honored her with her own Gina Champion-Cain Day. She cooked dinner for her husband Steve, walked the dogs on the beach, and was a role model for young women. But in reality, her empire was a house of cards funded with money from a financial fraud.