Lin Helena Halfon, 26, was arrested on December 16, after she attempted withdrawing $1 million cash at the cashier’s check to purchase a Yacht in Miami with her husband Richard Rappaport, 77, president of Panther Medical. Richard name appeared on the check but was not present during the withdrawal so it was denied. The suspicious transaction gave rise to a criminal investigation, as Halfon offered to pay $100,000 for the transaction, and she was charged with money laundering, organized fraud and exploitation of an elderly person. Her first appearance in court, she was granted a bail of $1 million.
When contacted by investigators, Rappaport said that it was a mistake and that she would return the checks, just because he didn’t want her to be deported to Israel, where she is from, but only after a month, he admitted that he was the victim of fraud as Halfon did not return the checks and has made two withdrawals amounting to $666,666 from a very distant location after she had broken the check into three.
Halfon has no record of crime, but how she met her husband is still unclear, and has refused to provide answers to this, but according to records, they got their marriage license in Hillsborough County after 4 months that they attended a benefit for the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg. Rappaport’ daughter, Dayna Titus, said no one knew they were married and she believed that Halfon was only taking advantage of his old age. However, the marriage between them seems valid and the investigators are still seeking facts for clarity on this.
