Newlywed wife charged with trying to defraud her husband

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A young newlywed wife is accused of trying to defraud $1million out of her husband who is 52 years her senior.

Lin Helena Halfon, 26, is claimed to have tried to cash in cheques with £770,000 from the bank account of 77-year-old Richard Rappaport.

She was arrested Tampa international airport in Florida months after marrying the elderly man on August 21 in a ceremony that his family said they know nothing about.

Ms Halfon is claimed to have told bank workers she was using the money to buy a yacht in Miami with her husband, Tampa Bay Times reports.


But when Mr Rappaport was informed about his wife's activities he said he would give her the benefit of the doubt as he did not want her to be deported to her native Israel.

However he did tell them he felt he was a victim of fraud and she is now charged with money-laundering, organised fraud and exploitation of an elderly person.

Mr Rappaport is the president of Panther Medical, a company that distributes braces and other medical equipment.

Ms Halfon is claimed to have offered bank workers, at a branch of financial services firm Amscot, $100,000 (£77,000) to cash the cheques which is twice the normal fee.
But they refused her request because his name was on the cheques and he was absent.

Bank workers called police when she tried a few hours later with three separate cheques worth $333,333 each.

Todd Foster, Ms Halfon's lawyer, told Tampa Bay Times: "There's a valid marriage between this couple and we look forward to bringing forward additional facts to bring clarity to this situation."