An Indian-origin Miami real estate developer has been charged in federal court in an alleged $85 million fraud scheme that was used to finance a luxury yacht and a lavish lifestyle.Rishi Kapoor, 41, was convicted in Florida on multiple criminal charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, bank fraud, tax evasion, failure to file tax returns and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Prosecutors in Miami unsealed the indictment earlier this month.Kapoor was arrested at a hotel in Fort Lauderdale on March 6 and presented before a magistrate judge. Prosecutors told the court he was a flight risk and the judge rejected their request for bail.Florida federal prosecutors said Kapoor raised approximately $85 million from investors through his company, Location Ventures, by promising luxury condos throughout South Florida. Most projects in areas such as Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, Coral Gables and Fort Lauderdale were never built. Instead, Kapoor, as CEO, diverted investors’ funds for personal use. He reportedly used the money to buy a 68-foot luxury yacht and help pay for a house in the Cocoplum neighborhood of Coral Gables, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods. Kapoor is also accused of not paying lakhs in payroll taxes. He allegedly withheld taxes from the salaries of his employees at Location Ventures, but did not remit the money to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), instead keeping approximately $2 million for himself.Court documents say Kapoor misled banks to obtain money for the yacht and other personal expenses. Officials claim they told investors they had invested about $13 million of their own, but in reality they contributed only about half that amount.Prosecutors said he “defrauded escrow agents to secure the release of pre-construction condominium deposits and then misused those funds for personal expenses unrelated to the development”. “As a result, the condominium projects in Coconut Grove and Miami Beach were never built,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.If convicted, Kapoor now faces decades in federal prison. Bank fraud alone carries a potential sentence of up to 30 years. Prosecutors also said they planned to seize luxury assets linked to the alleged scheme to provide compensation to investors, including a yacht, a Rolex Daytona watch and a platinum ring.The case follows a separate Securities and Exchange Commission civil enforcement action in 2024, in which Kapoor agreed to pay restitution in connection with a separate alleged fraud scheme without admitting wrongdoing.