08/26/2026
How does a luxury hotel development in America's wealthiest zip code turn into a $44 million crime scene?
At 160 Royal Palm Way in Palm Beach, more than 70 foreign investors contributed $500,000 each through the EB-5 visa program, promised lawful permanent residency and a five-star property backed by high-profile political endorsements
Investors were guaranteed in writing that their money would stay locked safely in escrow until their immigration petitions were formally approved.
Instead, nearly $30 million was drained almost immediately.
Rather than funding construction, the money went toward:
• Buying and staffing a 151-foot mega-yacht named Alibi
• Bailing out private multi-million-dollar mansions in Palm Beach and Nantucket from foreclosure
• Paying off personal credit card balances
While the developer sailed the Atlantic, the building sat for years as a decaying concrete shell with rusting rebar, until federal investigators stepped in with criminal indictments and prison sentences.
Have you ever followed a major development project in your town that suddenly halted without explanation?
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