The disgraced former Location Ventures CEO Rishi Kapoor will plead guilty this week to money laundering and payroll tax conspiracy charges related to a federal fraud investigation.
He will enter the plea on Friday, two months after he was arrested at a Fort Lauderdale hotel on his 42nd birthday, the Miami Herald reported. Federal prosecutors allege Kapoor orchestrated an $85 million fraud scheme that involved swindling investors, lying to banks and tax evasion. He faces at least 10 years in prison, according to the outlet.
He was indicted on 37 criminal counts in March, the culmination of a multi-year investigation.
The first sign of trouble came in 2023, when Securities and Exchange Commission regulators alleged Kapoor misappropriated millions to fund a lifestyle that included a $5 million yacht, a mansion in Coral Gables’ Cocoplum neighborhood and a leased McLaren.
The SEC case remains unresolved, as the two parties remain undecided on how much Kapoor should repay investors, according to the Herald. He faces a separate pending federal civil lawsuit brought by the agency.
Kapoor founded his now defunct firm Location Ventures in 2016, later establishing its co-living focused subsidiary URBIN. He ascended quickly in the world of Miami real estate, raising $93 million from more than 50 investors. But many of the projects he promised to build never materialized, in part because he used condominium deposits for personal expenses rather than development, prosecutors say.
While Kapoor faces a variety of criminal and civil charges, he has yet to see any public corruption charges related to his business dealings with former Miami mayor Francis Suarez. Investigations found that Kapoor paid Suarez $10,000 a month in consulting fees from at least July 2021 to March 2023, totaling at least $200,000 during his mayorship. Suarez has maintained that he did not abuse the power of his office to aid Kapoor’s projects.
Earlier this month, another Location Ventures executive, Daniel Motha, Kapoor’s former college friend and business partner, was charged with a federal felony conspiracy count for allegedly assisting Kapoor in his tax evasion scheme. Motha faces up to five years in prison.
–– Kate Hinsche
