Developer Rishi Kapoor's New Yacht Seized Amid Wave Of Foreclosures, Lawsuits
Embattled developer Rishi Kapoor is losing more than his development firm — the former Location Ventures CEO is also facing the loss of his 68-foot yacht.
The U.S. Marshals Service confiscated a 2023 Viking Princess sports cruiser belonging to Kapoor and his wife, Jennie Frank, from a West Palm Beach marina on Nov. 1, The Real Deal reports. The seizure follows a lawsuit from a lender that alleged the couple defaulted on a loan for the seafaring vessel.
It is the latest turn in a rapid fall from grace for Kapoor, who resigned from the top role at Location Ventures in July as federal investigators began probing his relationship with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. He has also faced lawsuits from investors in the development firm and has seen work stopped at some of his projects.
Massachusetts-based UniBank for Savings sued Kapoor and his wife on Oct. 20, alleging that the couple defaulted on a $4.3M loan to purchase the yacht, named M/Y Suneeta II. The boat has been turned over to a temporary custodian while the lawsuit is pending before U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks, TRD reported.
The lender alleges that Kapoor and Frank provided misleading information about the value of a mortgage on the couple’s waterfront home, which is itself facing foreclosure. UniBank's suit says the couple attested that the principal owed on the mortgage was $4.4M before increasing the principal amount owed on the mortgage to $5.4M.
The mortgage for the six-bedroom home at 7233 Los Pinos Blvd. in Coral Gables is also the subject of a lawsuit filed in September. An entity managed by private lender Robert Gutlohn alleged in Miami-Dade Circuit Court that Kapoor and Frank owe $4.6M in principal and interest on a 2021 mortgage, The Real Deal reported.
Gutlohn alleges Kapoor made false representations that he had personal assets in excess of $2.5M and that there was a “material adverse change” in Kapoor’s ability to personally guarantee the debt’s repayment. The suit also says the couple failed to make an August payment on the mortgage and didn't complete planned renovations.
Kapoor couldn’t be reached by Bisnow for comment.
Kapoor’s fortunes began to shift following a Miami Herald investigation that found a Location Ventures affiliate had paid Suarez at least $170K in $10K monthly installments as Kapoor sought help from the mayor to advance a proposal for a Coconut Grove condo development.
The FBI and the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, in collaboration with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, opened separate investigations into the payments, and the Securities and Exchange Commission also began investigating how Location Ventures courted investors, the Herald reported.
Diana Ulis and Alex Kleyner, a couple who had invested $45M into Location Ventures, sued Kapoor and the development firm in early July, seeking repayment of $25M that had been part of a buyout agreement they had made with the firm after souring on Kapoor’s leadership.
Kapoor resigned from the firm on July 19, and a former judge was brought in to oversee the liquidation of the company’s assets, the Herald reported. At least one Location Ventures asset has since been sold, and several others are facing foreclosure suits.
Location Ventures assigned its $30M contract to purchase a 1.6-acre Fort Lauderdale property at 551 Bayshore Drive to an entity controlled by Kleyner, Ulis and three other investors, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
Kapoor, Location Ventures or its affiliates have been named in a $12M foreclosure lawsuit over a 61K SF office building at 299 Alhambra Circle, a $2M foreclosure suit on a Coral Gables development site at 1200 Minorca Ave., and a $4M suit over unsold condos at a project he developed at 515 Valencia Ave.
