Politically connected Miami developer Rishi Kapoor hit with federal complaint – NBC 6 South Florida

A prominent, politically connected Miami developer is facing heat from a federal agency Wednesday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Rishi Kapoor, saying he ripped off dozens of investors of millions of dollars — and the case might have ripple effects at Miami City Hall.

Kapoor had employed Miami Mayor Francis Suarez as a consultant. Suarez is not named in the SEC’s complaint against Kapoor, but the relationship between the two men is certainly drawing more attention now.

One of Kapoor’s stalled projects is a mixed-use development on Commodore Plaza in Coconut Grove involving URBIN, which is one of his companies. Kapoor was paying Suarez $10,000 a month while at the same time, seeking permits and approvals from the City of Miami. Could that be considered a quid pro quo?

“Money in exchange for results in terms of green lighting new projects, those cases are hard to prove,” said former U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sloman, who also pointed out that no such allegations are being made against the mayor in this case.

Kapoor’s LinkedIn page still says he’s the CEO of Location Ventures, but that firm cut ties with him last summer. The SEC’s action is a civil lawsuit, not a criminal indictment. It accuses Kapoor of misappropriating more than $6 million, keeping about $4 million for himself.

NBC6 asked Sloman if the case against Kapoor reminds him of the fraud case against FTX founder Sam Bankman Fried, although on a smaller scale.

“Yes, that’s exactly correct, sounds like at some point in time, he was robbing Peter to pay Paul, new money was coming in to pay old investors and I guess he was hoping at some point in time he would monetize his projects and pay everybody off and apparently, that didn’t quite happen because of delays and what have you with regard to these projects,” Sloman said.

To protect investors, a federal judge agreed to freeze Kapoor’s bank accounts and assets, including a waterfront mansion and a 68-foot yacht.

Kapoor told the Miami Herald the SEC’s allegations are “unfounded.”

Two former federal prosecutors told NBC6 that usually, cases like this are followed by a criminal indictment, so the action taken by the SEC could be just the start of Kapoor’s legal troubles.

We reached out to Mayor Suarez’s office for comment but did not receive a reply.