A Miami real estate developer was sentenced to 11 years and four months in prison following his guilty plea to money laundering and payroll tax conspiracy charges.
Rishi Kapoor was the CEO of Location Ventures, a real estate development company that purported to develop projects in Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, and Fort Lauderdale.
Kapoor raised approximately $85 million from investors, but most of the real estate projects he promoted were never built. Despite being entitled to a capped salary of $400,000 plus certain fees, Kapoor diverted substantially more funds for personal use, including the purchase of a 68-foot yacht and a residence in Cocoplum.
According to the charges brought against him, Kapoor misrepresented to investors the amount of his personal financial contribution to Location Ventures, claiming he had invested $13 million alongside his business partner and family. In reality, he only contributed roughly half that amount.
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, which were never built.
Kapoor was also charged with withholding payroll taxes from Location Ventures employees but failing to remit those taxes to the Internal Revenue Service. Instead, Kapoor allegedly diverted more than $2 million from company accounts for his personal benefit. The indictment further alleges that Kapoor failed to pay his own personal taxes from 2019 through 2023, despite earning more than $2.8 million in income in 2022 and 2023 alone.
Furthermore, Kapoor was charged with falsifying bank statements to inflate his account balances, failing to disclose a significant mortgage on his Cocoplum residence, and misrepresenting that his tax returns had been filed with the IRS—all to obtain more than $9 million in financing. One bank extended a $5 million line of credit to Location Ventures, while another loaned Kapoor $4.2 million to finance the purchase of the yacht.
As part of his plea, Kapoor agreed to forfeit $820,559 and give up a platinum ring with a $28,405 down payment that prosecutors say was made with stolen investor money.
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