Miami developer charged in alleged $85M fraud scheme to fund luxury yacht and lifestyle

A prominent Miami real estate developer is facing charges in connection with an alleged $85 million fraud scheme that helped him buy a luxury yacht and fund a lavish lifestyle, authorities said.

Rishi Kapoor, 41, is also accused of failing to pay millions in taxes and of lying to financial institutions to purchase the yacht, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said Friday.

Kapoor was the chief executive officer of Location Ventures, a Miami-based real estate development company who was able to raise $85 million from investors for promised real estate projects, most of which were never built, authorities said.

Though he was only entitled to a $400,000 salary plus fees, Kapoor diverted “substantially more funds” for his personal use, including the money used to buy the 68-foot yacht and a home in Cocoplum, prosecutors said.

Kapoor allegedly told investors he’d personally invested $13 million in Location Ventures, but he’d really contributed about half that amount, officials said.

“Kapoor also allegedly deceived escrow agents to secure the release of pre-construction condominium deposits and then misappropriated those funds for personal expenses unrelated to the developments,” the U.S Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “As a result, condominium projects in Coconut Grove and Miami Beach were never built.”

Prosecutors said Kapoor withheld payroll taxes from Location Ventures employees but didn’t give them to the IRS, instead diverting about $2 million for his own benefit.

He also didn’t pay his own personal taxes from 2019 through 2023, despite earning more than $2.8 million in 2022 and 2023 alone, prosecutors said.

Kapoor allegedly falsified bank statements to inflate account balances, didn’t disclose a significant mortgage on the Cocoplum home and misrepresented that his tax returns had been filed with the IRS to obtain more than $9 million in financing from banks, including one that gave a $5 million line of credit to Location Ventures and another that loaned Kapoor $4.2 million for the yacht, officials said.

Other items alleged to be subject to forfeiture include a 2.5 carat platinum ring and a Rolex Daytona watch.

Kapoor is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to commit offenses against and to defraud the U.S., failure to pay payroll taxes, tax evasion, failure to file tax returns, and bank fraud.

If convicted, Kapoor faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud; up to 10 years for money laundering; up to five years for each count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the U.S., failure to pay payroll taxes, tax evasion, and failure to file tax returns; and up to 30 years for each count of bank fraud.

“The indictment alleges an $85 million fraud scheme in which investor funds intended for real estate development were diverted for luxury purchases, including a 68-foot yacht,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement. “It further alleges that the defendant withheld payroll taxes from employees but failed to turn that money over to the government, effectively stealing from his own employees. These are serious allegations that will now be addressed in federal court.”

Location Ventures apparently cut ties with Kapoor in 2023.

That same year, it was revealed that Kapoor had employed then-Miami Mayor Francis Suarez as a consultant.

In 2024, it was reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission was suing Kapoor for allegedly ripping off dozens of investors out of millions of dollars.

The civil lawsuit accused Kapoor of misappropriating more than $6 million while keeping about $4 million for himself.

To protect investors at the time, a federal judge agreed to freeze Kapoor’s bank accounts and assets, including a waterfront mansion and the 68-foot yacht.