Mission Hills restaurants, and others to close following fraud allegations
Restaurants in Mission Hills, Liberty Station, Ocean Beach and others under the ANI brand will close at the end of this week due to a federal investigation involving business owner Gina Champion-Cain.
A lawsuit was filed against Champion-Cain for allegedly fraudulent business behavior reports 10 News.
She and her business were sued by Securities and Exchange Commission after they accused her of deceiving investors.
Staff at the Fireside by Patio in Liberty Station and Patio on Goldfinch in Mission Hills confirmed the shutdown and say they will all lose their jobs at the end of the week.
Other restaurants reportedly closing include Patio Express locations in Mission Hills and Mission Beach; Bao Beach in Mission Beach; and Swell Coffee locations in Mission Beach and Del Mar.
A court-appointed receiver who is overseeing ANI businesses made the decision to shutter the eateries.
The Cohn Restaurant Group, who own several popular San Diego restaurants including Corvette Diner in Point Loma, Tacos Libertad, and BO beau Kitchen+Cache in Hillcrest will temporarily oversee Patio in Pacific Beach; Saska’s in Mission Beach; and the Surfrider locations in Ocean Beach and La Mesa.
Allegedly Champion-Cain convinced approximately “50 people to invest in a business opportunity to profit off of loans to people applying for alcohol licenses in California.”
The lawsuit claims that instead of investing the $300 million for the loans, Champion-Cain put it into her own businesses.
The Champion-Cain camp has yet to respond to news of the closures.
