CAPE CORAL, Fla. — The trial for Ludovic Laroche, a 54-year-old man accused of defrauding over 20 people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars through various scams, is set to begin on Tuesday.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) initiated an investigation in 2020 after receiving a complaint against Laroche. Authorities allege that he targeted the Haitian community, making multiple presentations at several Haitian Christian churches across Lee, Collier, and Charlotte counties.
Investigators claim Laroche solicited investments in his company, Laroche Real Estate Investments, LLC, under the pretense of buying and flipping houses. He promised investors a 10% annual return; however, it was discovered that he never purchased houses for flipping. Over eight years, he bought five properties and sold four, while collecting over $672,000 from victims but only returning $93,500 to them.
Additionally, Laroche is accused of persuading victims to invest in Houdini Taxi Apps, LLC, claiming he operated a taxi service and was developing a cell phone rideshare application. However, investigations revealed that he never owned any taxis, and the app was never made available to the public.
Laroche faces a total of 64 charges, including:
- Racketeering
- 35 counts of grand theft
- 13 counts of securities and investment prohibited practices
- 12 counts of sale and offer of sale of unregistered securities
- 2 counts of using investments from racketeering activity
- 1 count of violation of investment advisers