The trial for a man accused of stealing hundreds of thousands from at least 20 people through various scams starts on Tuesday.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says they started an investigation after receiving a complaint in 2020.
Agents say Ludovic Laroche, 54, of Cape Coral, targeted the Haitian community during multiple presentations to several Haitian Christian churches in Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties.
Investigators say Laroche urged more than a dozen victims to invest in Laroche Real Estate Investments, LLC. under the guise that he bought and flipped houses.
Laroche, FDLE says, promised 10% interest annually on the investment; but never purchased houses to flip.
Agents say during an eight year period, he purchased five properties and sold four of them.
They also say he collected more than $672,000 from the victims, but only paid them $93,500.
Laroche is also accused of convincing victims to invest in Houdini Taxi Apps, LLC – telling he owned a taxi service and was developing a cell phone ride share app, FDLE says.