Dawn Bennett was a Washington, D.C.–based luxury sportswear entrepreneur and former financial advisor who built a glittering public persona while secretly running what prosecutors later described as a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Through her company she marketed high-end alpaca and vicuña apparel and promised investors sky-high returns, claiming their money would fund inventory and expansion, but instead she used much of it to bankroll an extravagant lifestyle that included designer goods, jewelry, and personal expenses.