In letter to judge, Rishi Kapoor admits guilt and describes life behind bars

In a letter to U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore ahead of his sentencing on Thursday, Miami developer Rishi Kapoor admitted to defrauding investors and using condo deposits for unauthorized purposes, calling himself “a deeply flawed CEO and an even worse steward of the funds entrusted to me.”

“Those are my acts, and I fully accept responsibility for my crimes without hesitation or excuse,” he said in the Aug. 24 letter to Moore.

Kapoor has been in custody since his March arrest stemming from a 37-count federal indictment accusing him of directing an $89 million fraud scheme. In May, he pleaded guilty to a pair of money-laundering and payroll-tax conspiracy charges.

In a matter of years, Kapoor went from owning a multimillion-dollar home in Cocoplum and captaining a 68-foot yacht to living in federal custody. But Kapoor detailed in the letter how his “metamorphosis has accelerated with new meaning” since his incarceration six months ago.

The letter provides the most complete window into Kapoor’s thinking since the collapse of his company, Location Ventures, three years ago. During that time, Kapoor largely retreated from public life, saying he battled addiction and later sought treatment at a rehab center in April 2024. Since his arrest, Kapoor said he hasn’t had “a sip of alcohol or any drug,” has lost weight and that his chronic illnesses have subsided.

“Jail has not just transformed me; it has saved me,” Kapoor said in his letter, telling the judge he has become “extraordinarily religious” since his company’s implosion.

Kapoor’s wife, Jennie Frank Kapoor, confirmed that in a character letter filed in federal court this week ahead of her husband’s sentencing. She told the judge that she and Kapoor do a daily Bible study together, with her sending him a daily reading, followed by a discussion together.

“We have learned that material possessions are temporary, but relationships, faith, and time together are what truly matter,” Jennie wrote in the letter.

Kapoor was sentenced to 11 years and four months in federal prison Thursday. In determining how much time Kapoor would serve, the judge sided with prosecutors, who recommended a sentence of 136 months. At the request of Kapoor’s attorney, the judge recommended to the Bureau of Prisons that Kapoor be incarcerated near Atlanta, where Kapoor’s family is located.

Kapoor pledged in the letter to make it his “life’s work” to repay his victims — a group of more than 50 investors who prosecutors say are owed at least $70 million in restitution. He also said his actions “hurt real people,” including investors and condo buyers who trusted him with their money, as well as Location Ventures employees whose payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare benefits Kapoor failed to remit between 2020 and 2022.

The Aug. 24 letter, included in full below, offers a firsthand perspective from the former Location Ventures CEO about life before and after his arrest.

Rishi Kapoor letter

Dear Judge Moore:

I pled guilty quickly to the charges before the Court because I am guilty, and I want the Court to know that I understand what I did. I also humbly ask the Court to consider my commitment to restitution and my plans for transformation and redemption.

I took fees from my companies that the operating agreements did not allow me to receive, or took them earlier than the agreements allowed. I failed in my duty to ensure that payroll taxes withheld from some of my employees’ paychecks were promptly paid over to the IRS. I raised money from investors based on materially misleading statements. And I used money from condominium purchasers for unauthorized purposes without proper oversight. I was a deeply flawed CEO and an even worse steward of the funds entrusted to me. Those are my acts, and I fully accept responsibility for my crimes without hesitation or excuse.

“I worked tirelessly for the benefit of all stakeholders in my companies; everything will be fine.” That was the cover for the lie I told myself as I hastily pushed forward. I did not intend for anyone to be hurt, and I did not believe anyone would be. But my criminal actions and failures hurt real people. Investors and condominium buyers who trusted me lost money they had spent years earning. My employees worked for me in good faith, trusting that their paychecks and taxes were being managed faithfully and that their livelihoods were secure. My community suffered lost jobs, unpaid contractor wages, and stalled projects that scarred families and neighborhoods. I let down my country by failing in my duties as a leader and a citizen. My family lost not only millions of dollars but also the son and brother they believed in and relied on. My beloved and devoted wife was left with a husband who endangered her well-being through a mirage. Cumulatively, I have sinned before my God to such an extent that I came to believe my death would be better than my life. I am ashamed of myself, and I have carried that shame every minute of every day since the collapse of my company in July 2023. “To whom much is given, much is required.” I failed in every respect to live up to that standard, one shared by both my heavenly and earthly fathers.

For years, I battled anxiety and PTSD, terrible addictions, chronic health conditions, and sixteen years of excessive drinking. This was more than anyone publicly knew. These are not excuses; they are the facts about a man who has only himself to blame for self-inflicted wounds. My conditions did not make my choices; I did.

In April 2024, almost two years before my arrest, I asked for help and began treatment through a rehabilitation center and counseling, and I continued that treatment until my incarceration. While I have been spiritual all my life, since late 2023, I have developed an extraordinary religious faith and a search for purpose on my path to becoming a better human being.

Since my incarceration nearly six months ago, my metamorphosis has accelerated with new meaning. In addition to attending church nearly every night, I teach my fellow inmates weekly about faith, education, and business, with a third of my unit attending regularly, something the counselors say they have not seen before. I serve as a leader and senior orderly in my unit, helping with a variety of tasks that benefit our community, including food service, operating phones and computers, and mopping. I have helped dozens of men who struggle to structure their thoughts when writing to their families, lawyers, and judges. I am tutoring two young men five days a week to read and to learn life’s basics after horrendous upbringings. Jail has not just transformed me; it has saved me.

I mention all of this only because the Court should know everything about me, including what I am doing to make certain that I never again become the man who made those terrible choices years ago that affected so many. I have not had a sip of alcohol or any drug since the day of my arrest. Through faith and counseling, I have been able to stop my anxiety and PTSD medications. Through service, I have repurposed my soul to benefit others, putting them first. I have lost nearly twenty pounds since my arrest and have no signs of the chronic illnesses that plagued me for many years; some are in total remission.

I am completing everything required by the plea agreement I signed. I have worked with the court-appointed SEC Receiver to identify and recover assets for the people I hurt, along with information that should assist in substantial recoveries, and I am willing to keep helping from prison for as long as it takes to ensure the money reaches the right people’s hands.

Most importantly, I am God-fearing and serious about restitution. I will follow every order the Court enters regarding restitution to my victims, and, if the Court permits, I hope to share some of my thoughts about repayment at my hearing. I pray the Court respects the tension between my honesty about the uncertainty ahead and my desire to make my victims whole, including an additional return that my moral obligations under Leviticus require of me. I will make repaying my victims my life’s work, and I know it is only a question of when, not if. Repaying them comes before rebuilding anything for myself. My first obligations are the ones I already have: my restitution, my health and sobriety, my country, and my family.

Your Honor, should you deem it appropriate, I would appreciate the opportunity to speak candidly and openly before the Court at my sentencing hearing. I will keep my remarks succinct, but there is a message I pray to deliver to my victims, my country, my God, and my family.

Whatever term the Court, in its wisdom, imposes, my transformation is already underway. I am a man humbly seeking a second chance in our society and the opportunity to make people whole. A second chance is not something I will ever waste; whenever Your Honor deems it appropriate to begin, a decision I respectfully accept. I pray for the Court’s mercy, and I am grateful for Your Honor’s wisdom.

I pray the Court will see the difference between the man who, years ago, committed the crimes I have accepted full responsibility for and the man standing before you today, someone trying to make amends and contribute more to society. I am sorry that I failed you and so many others. I sincerely appreciate the time and reflection you have given regarding my punishment.

Respectfully,

Rishi Kapoor