Real Estate Developer Gets 11-Year Prison Sentence in Major US Fraud Case, Details Emerge

• Miami developer Rishi Kapoor raised approximately $89 million from investors for real estate projects that were never built
• Kapoor diverted investor funds to purchase a 68-foot yacht, a diamond ring, and a multimillion-dollar home in Cocoplum
• The CEO of Location Ventures also withheld $1.3 million in payroll taxes from employees and failed to remit the funds to the IRS

A Miami real estate developer has been handed a federal prison sentence of more than 11 years after pleading guilty to defrauding investors of approximately $89 million and failing to pay millions of dollars in payroll taxes.

U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore sentenced Rishi Kapoor, 41, formerly of Miami, to 136 months in federal prison.

Kapoor pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to fail to pay payroll taxes.

Kapoor's fraudulent scheme at Location Ventures

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Kapoor served as chief executive officer of Location Ventures, a Miami-based real estate development company with promoted projects in Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, and Fort Lauderdale. He raised approximately $89 million from investors, but court records show that most of the projects for which he solicited the funds were never constructed.

Between 2018 and 2023, Kapoor received more than $6 million from Location Ventures and its associated projects, channelling investor money towards personal expenditures rather than the developments he had promised. Those personal purchases included a 68-foot yacht, a 2.8-carat diamond ring, and a $5.9 million home in the Cocoplum neighbourhood of Miami.

Kapoor also made false representations to investors, claiming he and his business partner and family had contributed approximately $13 million of their own money to Location Ventures. Court records confirm that figure was roughly half the actual amount contributed.

He additionally misled escrow agents to secure the release of pre-construction condominium deposits, then directed those funds towards personal use and expenses unrelated to the designated projects. As part of the case, Kapoor agreed to forfeit the 2.8-carat diamond ring purchased with investor proceeds.

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Tax violations and civil action

Beyond the investor fraud, Kapoor withheld approximately $1.3 million in payroll taxes from Location Ventures employees but never transmitted those funds to the Internal Revenue Service. During the same period, he paid himself more than $2 million from the company's bank accounts.

"Rishi Kapoor raised approximately $89 million from investors by promising real estate developments, then diverted millions of dollars to fund his own lavish lifestyle," said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. "He used investor money on a yacht, a diamond ring, and a multimillion-dollar home, while also withholding payroll taxes from employees and failing to send that money to the IRS."

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Acting Special Agent in Charge Scott A. Johnson of IRS Criminal Investigation added: "Financial fraudsters cannot hide behind luxury or lies."

The case was investigated by the FBI Miami Field Office and IRS Criminal Investigation. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission separately filed a civil action against Kapoor.

Businessman gets 4-year US sentence for fraud

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that a Nigerian had been handed a four-year federal prison sentence after swindling more than $2.7 million.

Joseph James Nantomah, 49, was sentenced on September 18, 2026, by United States District Judge Lynn Adelman in the Eastern District of Wisconsin

Source: YEN.com.gh