A National City man who is a former chief financial officer of an investment business has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit U.S. securities fraud.
Crispin Torres, 53, was released July 22 on $20,000 bond by U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Michael Berg after he pleaded guilty, according to court records.
Torres’ co-defendant, Gina Champion-Cain, 55, of San Diego, was also released on $100,000 bond after she pleaded guilty to committing securities fraud, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
Sentencing was set for both Torres and Champion-Cain on Oct. 13 before U.S. Judge Anthony Battaglia.
Torres faces up to five years in federal prison, but Champion-Cain could receive 188 months or 15 years and eight months in prison, according to U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer who held a news conference that day to announce the guilty pleas.
Torres was the former chief financial officer at American National Investments for years and was aware that Champion-Cain’s other businesses were strapped for cash. Torres established a bank account under a name that was similar to a national escrow company’s name. Torres was aware that Champion-Cain tricked investors into depositing their funds into this account, according to prosecutors.
Torres fabricated receipts from the escrow company to send to his investors. Brewer said “the purpose was clear—to convince investors that a reliable national escrow company administered their funds.” Brewer said the escrow company, in reality, had no connection with this bank.
“This is by far the largest Ponzi scheme discovered in this district,” said Brewer, adding that the fraud totaled $400 million.
Brewer said there were “other co-conspiractors out there” who have not been arrested. Torres and Champion-Cain “had unfettered access to these investor funds and simply stole the money to further the Ponzi scheme,” said Brewer.
“Gina Champion-Cain constructed and maintained a house of cards that has come crashing down around her and all her victims,” said Brewer. “The scheme deprived many investors of their retirement savings.”
Brewer said one investor lost “tens of millions of dollars and forced him into bankruptcy.”
Champion-Cain was a prominent restaurateur in San Diego. She was accused a year ago by the Securities and Exchange Commission of bilking investors in another scheme involving liquor license lending.
