{"id":507,"date":"2026-05-14T18:02:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=507"},"modified":"2026-05-14T18:02:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:02:30","slug":"miami-developer-rishi-kapoor-to-plead-guilty-to-money-laundering-in-fraud-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=507","title":{"rendered":"Miami developer Rishi Kapoor to plead guilty to money laundering in fraud scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Rishi Kapoor, an up-and-coming developer with ties to Miami\u2019s former mayor, has decided to plead guilty on Friday to a pair of money laundering and payroll-tax conspiracy charges just two months after he was arrested on a 37-count federal indictment accusing him of directing an $85 million fraud scheme, according to court records.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=505\">Is another famous billionaire moving to Miami Beach? Elon Musk landed in the bay<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Kapoor was initially charged with swindling investors of millions of dollars, lying to financial institutions to obtain funds to buy a luxury yacht and failing to pay millions in taxes despite earning a seven-figure income.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Kapoor, who formerly lived in a waterfront estate in the Cocoplum neighborhood of Coral Gables, was unable to obtain a bond after a magistrate judge and federal judge found him to be a flight risk. His trial before U.S. District Judge Michael Moore was scheduled for Monday. With his expected plea, Kapoor faces 10 years or more in prison.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>In late March, Kapoor pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from his role as the chief executive officer of Location Ventures and its subsidiary URBIN. Both companies, before their collapse in 2023, developed and planned several mixed-use condo projects in Coral Gables, Miami and Miami Beach.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, one of his defense attorneys, Fred Schwartz, declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Kapoor was arrested at a hotel in Fort Lauderdale on March 6, on what happened to be his 42nd birthday. The developer gained notoriety in 2023 when the Miami Herald broke a story revealing that he had hired then-Miami Mayor Francis Suarez as a $10,000-a-month consultant for URBIN while the company was developing a major project in Coconut Grove. Suarez, whose second term as mayor ended in 2025, is not charged in the new federal case and has denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The indictment, filed by prosecutor Elizabeth Young, included charges for money laundering, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and various tax violations.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in the Southern District of Florida said in a news release that while Kapoor raised about $85 million from investors, \u201cmost of the promised real estate projects 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors further alleged that Kapoor misrepresented to investors the amount that he had personally contributed to Location Ventures, claiming he and his business partner and family had invested $13 million, \u201cwhen, in reality, he contributed roughly half that amount.\u201d He also stands accused of deceiving escrow agents \u201cto secure the release of pre-construction condominium deposits and then misappropriated those funds for personal expenses unrelated to the developments. As a result, condominium projects in Coconut Grove and Miami Beach were never built.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=503\">\u2018Cuban Mafia\u2019 boss caught in Mexico is expected to face charges in Miami<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors also alleged that Kapoor withheld payroll taxes from employees \u201cbut failed to turn that money over to the government, effectively stealing from his own employees.\u201d Instead of remitting those taxes to the IRS, prosecutors allege Kapoor diverted over $2 million \u201cfrom company accounts for his personal benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Kapoor is expected to plead guilty to that conspiracy offense against the United States.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>He is also planning to plead guilty to one money-laundering charge accusing him of transferring $820,559 from his personal bank account to buy a $5 million, 68-foot Princess yacht on Aug. 15, 2022.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<h2>SEC alleged Kapoor \u2018shuffled investor funds\u2019<\/h2>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Kapoor, a University of Miami business-school and law-school graduate, was under investigation by the FBI, IRS and U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for more than two years. In November 2024, he reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve a lawsuit claiming he defrauded dozens of investors in his companies\u2019 projects. That civil case is still unresolved, however, as both sides have failed to reach an agreement on how much Kapoor must compensate those investors.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The SEC case underscores the charges in the new federal criminal case. In the SEC case, Kapoor admitted liability in a consent judgment with the regulatory agency without admitting or denying its allegations that he misappropriated $4.3 million for himself while raising about $93 million from more than 50 investors in his South Florida real estate projects.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>According to the agreement, Kapoor was barred for five years from serving as an officer or director of any company that sells security investments.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=502\">Flies on inspector, mold on pizza. See the filthiest South Florida restaurants<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rishi Kapoor, an up-and-coming developer with ties to Miami\u2019s former mayor, has decided to plead guilty to money laundering and payroll-tax conspiracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-south-florida"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Miami developer Rishi Kapoor to plead guilty to money laundering in fraud scheme - Florida Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=507\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Miami developer Rishi Kapoor to plead guilty to money laundering in fraud scheme - 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