Cooking the books
Chief US District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga has sentenced an ex-bookkeeper from Florida to 51 months in prison for masterminding an embezzlement scheme that drained $9.8m from her client.
flying to Tel Aviv on a one-way ticket
According to reports, federal agents arrested Hava Yfrah-Austin, 58, at Miami International Airport in April. She was flying to Tel Aviv on a one-way ticket, having sold all her Florida properties.
“The defendant booked a one-way ticket overseas,” stated IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office Special Agent in Charge Emmanuel Gomez.
Agent Gomez added that, thanks to his agency’s financial investigation, “the only one-way trip she’s taking is straight to prison.”
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO-SDFL)’s press release said Yfrah-Austin used much of the embezzled money “to gamble at local casinos and through online gaming platforms.”
Facing the music
SDFL US Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones stated in the release that Yfrah-Austin “betrayed the trust placed in her, stole nearly $10 million, and gambled it away.”
“Our Office will hold accountable those who abuse positions of trust and conceal their crimes,” Quiñones warned.
According to the USAO-SDFL, Yfrah-Austin was the owner-operator of a bookkeeping and tax services firm in Florida’s Broward County. In this role, she provided bookkeeping services for the victim company for years and held “signature authority over its bank accounts.”
From 2018 to 2024, Yfrah-Austin stole millions via unauthorized wire transfers from her client’s accounts to her own business.
Judge Altonaga also ordered Yfrah-Austin, who previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud and falsifying a tax return, to pay an undisclosed sum in restitution.
White-collar crime spree
Yfrah-Austin isn’t the only bookkeeper or accountant to make headlines recently for embezzling money to gamble. Last week, Minnesota handed accounts manager Destiny Combs the exact same prison sentence, 51 months, for stealing $2.7m from her employers to fund an online gambling habit.
Also last week, the feds sentenced an ex-Washington state employee to 18 months in prison for embezzling almost $900,000 from his office. The sentencing judge described Matthew Ping as having a “severe gambling addiction.”
