Rishi Kapoor (Miami real estate developer)
Introduction
Rishi Kapoor, the 41-year-old former chief executive officer of Miami-based real estate development firm Location Ventures, was sentenced to 136 months in federal prison — more than eleven years — for defrauding investors of approximately $89 million, failing to pay millions of dollars in payroll taxes, and lying to a bank to obtain financing for a 68-foot yacht. United States District Judge K. Michael Moore imposed the sentence after Kapoor pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to fail to pay payroll taxes, per the Justice Department’s September 30, 2026 announcement. He is not the Indian actor of the same name; this page concerns the South Florida developer.
Background Information
Kapoor’s company promoted development projects in Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, and Fort Lauderdale, and raised approximately $89 million from investors, according to court records cited in the announcement. Most of the projects for which he solicited the money were never built. Between 2018 and 2023, Kapoor received more than $6 million from Location Ventures and its projects, which he misappropriated to finance personal expenditures — including the 68-foot yacht, a 2.8-carat diamond ring, and a $5.9 million home in the Cocoplum neighborhood of Coral Gables.
The announcement also documents misrepresentations to investors about Kapoor’s own stake: he falsely represented that he had invested approximately $13 million of his own money in Location Ventures with his business partner and family, when they had contributed only about half that amount. He further made misrepresentations to escrow agents to obtain the release of pre-construction condominium deposits, then misused those funds for himself and for expenses unrelated to the projects for which the money had been designated.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Convicted and sentenced. Kapoor pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to fail to pay payroll taxes and received a 136-month federal prison term. The scheme’s facts below come from court records cited in the Justice Department’s sentencing announcement.
The payroll-tax count covered a separate stream of misconduct: Kapoor withheld approximately $1.3 million in payroll taxes from Location Ventures’ employees but failed to pay those taxes to the Internal Revenue Service, instead paying himself more than $2 million from company bank accounts. As part of the case, Kapoor agreed to forfeit the 2.8-carat diamond ring purchased with investor proceeds. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a civil action against him, running parallel to the criminal case.
Judge Moore’s 136-month term resolved the two guilty-plea counts, with sentencing following the government’s account of a years-long pattern in which investor money raised for unbuilt projects financed a yacht, a diamond ring, and a multimillion-dollar home. The case is docketed under number 26-cr-20073 in the Southern District of Florida.
Public Reaction and Consequences
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said Kapoor “raised approximately $89 million from investors by promising real estate developments, then diverted millions of dollars to fund his own lavish lifestyle. 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. Kapoor will now spend more than 11 years in federal prison for a years-long scheme built on deception, greed, and the misuse of other people’s money.”
“Financial fraudsters cannot hide behind luxury or lies,” said Scott Johnson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Florida Field Office, whose agency investigated alongside the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Young and Daya Nathan prosecuted the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff handling asset forfeiture.
Current Status
Kapoor is serving the 136-month sentence imposed by Judge Moore following his guilty pleas. The forfeiture of the diamond ring is part of the case’s resolution, and the SEC’s civil action remains part of the record alongside the criminal case, per the announcement. The investors behind the roughly $89 million raise were left with mostly unbuilt projects as the outcome the announcement documents; the release reports no restitution figure and no appeal. Kapoor is identified in the announcement as formerly of Miami.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Kapoor’s career as a developer is ended by the sentence: the chief executive who raised $89 million on the promise of South Florida projects will spend more than eleven years in federal prison, with the SEC civil action and the criminal forfeiture adding civil and asset consequences to the custodial term. The case stands in the court record as the documented account of Location Ventures’ collapse — investors’ funds traced to a yacht, a ring, and a $5.9 million home while employees’ withheld payroll taxes never reached the IRS, and most of the promised projects never built.