Miami's Jay Gatsby Nevin Shapiro led the kind of life you only
see in the movies.
He was the king of the Miami party scene, throwing wild events that were Jay Gatsby-like.
He threw the best parties, ate at the best restaurants, and he had all of Miami's top
athletes at his fingertips.
At his parties, Nevin would usually sit back and sip a glass of high-end scotch with a
cigar poking out the side of his mouth.
From the outside looking in, he was a hugely successful business mogul, an icon of the
Miami community who had built a massive corporate empire that was bringing in millions of dollars
for Shapiro and his investors.
But something just wasn't quite right about Shapiro.
Just how did Shapiro become Miami’s unofficial Sugar Daddy and how did it all crumble down?
Early Life Although he was technically born in Brooklyn,
Miami was always the place Shapiro called home.
Nevin's family moved down to South Florida when he was still a young boy, and the only
remnant of their life outside of Miami Beach was his mother's thick New York accent.
Aside from that, Nevin was Florida-bred through and through.
His parents split when he was still very young, and he lived with his mother, Ronnie, from
that point on.
He lost all contact with his biological father after the divorce.
Nevin and his mother led a fairly simple life throughout his high school years.
She worked as a secretary at a South Beach law office while Nevin spent his time being
a pretty normal teenager.
He dabbled in school sports, playing a year of high school basketball, and even trying
his hand at wrestling.
He was also a member of the leadership club, whose president at the time was Brett Ratner,
who'd later become the director behind the Rush Hour franchise and X-Men: Last Stand.
It was, by all accounts, an ordinary childhood followed by ordinary teenage years.
No one would suspect that young Nevin Shapiro would eventually grow up to become one of
the most prolific scammers in the city of Miami—a city that was becoming a hotbed
for Fraud in the early-mid 2000s.
Nevin's path to becoming a kingpin among Miami Ponzi schemes began after his High School
graduation.
His mother married Richard Armand Adam, a Canadian with a budding loan company called
RAA International.
The business was growing steadily, and Nevin got his first taste of the good life as a
result.
The family moved to Lighthouse Point, a wealthy suburb of Fort Lauderdale, and even got their
own 38-foot yacht with Adam's earnings.
People who knew Shapiro would tell you that these early adulthood years started to change
him.
The average boy from Miami had turned into an entitled highflyer who needed to showcase
his status to the rest of the world.
Club Night On the night of his 26th birthday, Shapiro
snuck a large group of friends into a Miami nightclub called the Stephen Talkhouse.
Going in the front would mean a $25 cover charge for him and each of his pals.
To Shapiro, sneaking in sounded like a better option.
The club's owner caught them and subsequently asked them to leave.
In a fit of rage, Shapiro struck the owner.
This angry outburst cost him thousands in medical bills after the owner's eye was severely
injured.
Sharpio was also slapped with 18 months of probation and anger management classes.
It sounds like he should have just paid that $25 dollar cover.
Things took yet another turn for the criminal in 1997 when Nevin's stepfather was arrested.
As it turns out, RAA International was a complete sham.
Adam and his business partners would pocket the fees charged to prospective clients without
ever delivering on their end of the bargain.
They were able to scam 6 million dollars before they were caught.
The family wealth that had imbued such pride and self-worth into Shapiro was ultimately
built on lies, an eerie foreshadowing of his own future deceptions that perhaps gives us
some insight into Shapiro's warped approach to life and business.
Hurricane Love Shapiro had an insatiable passion for the
University of Miami, in particular their football program.
He'd been a huge Hurricanes fan his whole life, and his obsession with Miami football
followed him into adulthood.
Most people would probably consider Shapiro's University of Miami fandom a tad unhealthy.
But it was a huge part of his life, nonetheless.
Capitol Investments Shapiro tried to bring the same fire and fury
he had during Miami football games to his business endeavors.
His first attempt at honest work was in 1998 when he started Nevco Trading.
This proved to be a rocky start for Shapiro's career in business, as the company was sued
for failing to adhere to agreed-upon contracts.
So much for honest work, right?
Nevco Trading went out of business, and Shapiro set his sights on a new venture: Capitol Investments
USA.
The idea was simple.
Capitol Investments would purchase wholesale grocery items in markets where the prices
were low and then sell them for much higher rates in more affluent areas.
The profits would come from the difference.
Unlike Nevco, Capitol Investments was a scheme from day 1.
While Capitol Investments USA wasn't blowing the doors off the wholesale grocery market,
Shapiro could sustain the operation until he got his big break in 2003.
Shapiro gained the attention of certain wealthy individuals that turned his company into a
million-dollar enterprise practically overnight.
Craig Currie and Sherwin Jarol were the first two to throw their hats in the ring.
The successful businessmen became serious investors in Capital Investments and were
soon followed by the real estate giant Sydney Williams, known to his friends as Jack.
While all three of these men helped turn the tide for Shapiro's lofty business aspirations,
it was Williams who proved integral to Shapiro's rise.
He became something of a business partner to Shapiro and was instrumental in bringing
in several other wealthy investors over the next few years.
In exchange for his Rolodex of rich friends, Williams recouped a generous ten percent commission
on any investor he helped bring in.
Simply put, if Williams got someone to invest a million bucks, he'd pocket $100,000 thousand
dollars.
What Williams saw exactly in Shapiro and Capitol Investments, we may never know.
Something just compelled him to go all in.
What we do know is Williams had a positive track record with the investors he'd bring
in.
They'd worked together on some real estate investments and cashed in big on William's
word.
Unfortunately, Williams trusted Shapiro.
Miami Sugar Daddy With Williams and others in tow, Shapiro had
hit the jackpot.
With hundreds of millions of dollars in funding in his back pocket, the owner and CEO of Capitol
Investments USA started living like a bonafide rockstar.
Yachts, luxury cars, and courtside seats at Miami Heat games were just the tip of the
iceberg.
The crown jewel of his accomplishments was his Bay Road mansion, which was a $6 million
property with all of the amenities and luxuries for throwing the best parties.
A palace-like courtyard outfitted with a Spanish-tiled fountain welcomed visitors to Shapiro's majestic
home.
Inside, his mansion was decked out with multiple flat-screen TV’s all throughout his massive
house.
This allowed Shapiro to keep an eye on his beloved Hurricanes, no matter what he was
doing.
The decorations strewn on the mantle and all over the walls seemed to serve as trophies
of Shapiro's emerging status in the world.
A picture of him being playfully bench-pressed by Shaquille O'Neal, a snap of him shaking
hands with former US Attorney General Eric Holder, an autographed Miami Hurricanes football
helmet, and even a photo of Shapiro standing on the field during a Hurricanes practice.
By every worldly metric, he had made it, and he had done so right in his backyard.
He was living out his dreams, both as a businessman and a University of Miami superfan.
But how did Shapiro become such a staple of the Miami community?
Miami Boosting In addition to running Capitol Investments
USA, which continued to supply him with millions of dollars in investment funds, Shapiro was
an extremely active figure in the world of Miami sports, particularly anything to do
with the Miami Hurricanes.
The university's website once described him as quote, "an ardent, devoted, intense supporter."
It's become clear that he was far more than that.
He acted as a booster to many athletes who went on to play for the Hurricanes.
So what exactly does a booster do?
Well, basically, a booster just uses their money and influence to try and convince young
high school athletes to commit to the University of Miami.
And this was exactly what Shapiro did.
Expensive dinners, extravagant gifts, outlandish parties, even cold hard cash.
Anything that might sway a potential recruit was fair game.
Shapiro has since detailed the extent of his boosting practices - almost all of which violated
NCAA rules and regulations.
In all, he provided benefits to 72 athletes between 2002 and 2010.
Shapiro also started his own sports agency, known as Axcess Sports & Entertainment, to
boost his efforts.
Axcess signed two former Miami players - Jon Beason and Vince Wilfork - as NFL clients.
They also had a hand in recruiting dozens more for the Hurricanes through lump-sum payments
and other various benefits.
Lil Luke Shapiro was given the nickname "Lil Luke,",
after legendary Luther Campbell, the legendary front man of 2 Live Crew and he even had a
lounge on the University of Miami campus named after him following a particularly generous
donation.
He had become a vital part of the university's athletic endeavors.
For someone who loved the Hurricanes as passionately as Shapiro did, this was a really big deal.
Boosting Regulations All of this was carried out using the investment
money being poured into Capitol Investments USA.
Although it failed to follow the rules laid out by the NCAA regarding boosting practices
in collegiate athletics, nobody at the University of Miami seemed to care.
Shapiro's behavior was not a secret to the administration, either.
University officials were well aware of his dubious recruiting practices.
But still, no one batted an eye.
Why would they?
Shapiro was a donor to the university, an outspoken and well-liked member of the Hurricane
community, and was consistently bringing in top-tier talent for the football team.
The questionable legality of his actions was a minor detail in comparison to the amount
of perceived good he was doing for the school as a whole.
Technically, Boosting is perfectly legal so long as the booster follows strict NCAA guidelines.
Basically, a booster can make donations to the school's athletic program to aid enrolled
students.
They can provide or arrange employment for students and provide benefits to the families
of enrolled students.
However, the common denominator in all of this is the word "enrolled."
Shapiro was paying and coercing top-tier high school athletes to enroll at The University
of Miami, which is not in accordance with NCAA guidelines.
Exposed Shapiro's reign as the king of South Beach
eventually crumbled before his eyes.
In 2010, the true nature of Capitol Investments was brought to light.
While Shapiro insisted his wholesale grocery business was doing well and that his many
investors would be paid what they're owed.
In reality, Shapiro's business ventures were a front for a massive Ponzi scheme that stretched
from dozens of wealthy investors to the athletic staff at the University of Miami.
This included scores of football players, coaches, and athletic department executives.
Shapiro had been laundering his investors' money for years.
For a while, he was using new investments to pay existing investors their share, but
that stopped once the cash dried up.
A Ponzi scheme always seems to work in the beginning.
Eventually, they all come crashing down.
Just ask Miami's other top scammers, such as Scott Rothstein.
Find out how Rothstein scammed over a BILLION dollars with a VERY simple scheme here!
A significant chunk of the $930 million, roughly 35-million according to court documents, was
used to fund Shapiro's lavish lifestyle.
He tried to buy himself as much time as he could.
He assured worried investors that the money was going to come in at some point.
When it didn't, he blamed the non-existent influx of dollars on stubborn grocery stores
neglecting to make payments.
But, Shapiro's calm and collected claims soon fell on deaf ears.
He had an angry mob of duped investors at his front door looking for answers - and their
money.
His Ponzi scheme came crashing down all at once, and he was arrested in April of 2010
following an FBI investigation into Capitol Investments.
He ultimately pled guilty to one count of securities fraud and one count of money laundering
and was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
The judge also ordered him to pay more than $82 million in restitution for the victims
of his crimes.
NCAA Investigations Following Shapiro's criminal prosecution,
the NCAA conducted their own investigation into his activity at University of Miami during
Shapiro's 8-year relationship with the school.
They uncovered gross misconduct on the part of the school and identified an endless list
of violations Miami had committed.
The NCAA handed down punishments in 2013 that stretched across the entire athletic department.
Several Football and Basketball coaches were hit with show-cause orders, with the head
basketball coach receiving a 5-game suspension for his involvement.
The number of Football scholarships they could give out was reduced, and the university was
put on probation for 3 years.
Miami enacted some self-imposed punishments as well, including a two-year ban from participation
in bowl games for the football team.
Shapiro Today So where is Shapiro today?
Surprisingly, he’s already out of jail.
He got super lucky.
Because of the pandemic, Shapiro was ordered to serve the remaining seven years on his
sentence in home confinement.
Back in 2010, he made mention of a tell-all book that implicated people at the University
of Miami in his unregulated boosting practices, but that has not yet come to fruition.
For now, he’s home with his family.
He is trying to move forward and make the most of his remaining years.
But for the victims of his schemes, life will never be the same.
Many retirees who invested in Shapiro's company were forced to go back to work once their
money was lost.
Friends were betrayed.
Trust was broken.
After being released from prison, he said, "I have never stopped thinking about my victims."
That weight will forever rest on Nevin Shapiro's shoulders.