Florida man accused of investment scams following FDLE investigation

FLORIDA — A Cape Coral man has been arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for alleged investment scams, the FDLE said in an announcement.

According to the FDLE, its agents arrested Ludovic Laroche, 54, of Cape Coral, on charges of racketeering, securities/investments prohibited practices, embezzlement, sale of unregistered securities, and violations of the Florida Securities and Investor Protection Act.

Laroche is accused of stealing hundreds of thousands from at least 20 victims through fraudulent investment scams.  The case was a joint investigation between FDLE and The Office of Financial Regulation.

The FDLE said its agents began the investigation in 2020 after receiving a complaint. Agents said Laroche targeted the Haitian community making presentations to several Haitian Christian church congregations in Lee, Charlotte, and Collier counties.

In one alleged scheme, he reportedly urged more than a dozen victims to invest in Laroche Real Estate Investments, LLC telling potential investors he bought and flipped houses. He is alleged to have promised 10 percent interest annually on the investment, but agents say he never bought houses to flip.

Over eight years, the FDLE claims Laroche purchased five properties and sold four of them. He collected more than $672,000 from the victims but only repaid $93,500 to them, the FDLE said.

In another alleged scheme, the FDLE said Laroche enticed his victims to invest in Houdini Taxi Apps, LLC telling them he owned a taxi service and was developing a cell phone ride-share application. The investigation shows Laroche never owned any taxis, and the application was never made available to the public, the FDLE said.

In an alleged third scam, Laroche reportedly convinced a neighbor to give him $15,000 to invest in a car company, but Laroche never purchased the stock, the FDLE said.

The investigation is ongoing, and FDLE agents say there could be additional victims. If you have information about this crime, please get in touch with FDLE Ft. Myers at (800) 407-4880.

Laroche was arrested last week and booked into the Lee County Jail. The State Attorney’s Office, 20^TH Judicial Circuit, will prosecute the case.