Prosecutors say Henry Rappa Jr. kept client funds, ignored court orders and continued legal work after he was told to stop practicing.
MALDEN, MA — A Melrose attorney was charged Thursday with stealing more than $680,000 from two clients and continuing to work on legal matters after being ordered to stop practicing law, Middlesex prosecutors said.
Henry Rappa Jr., 57, pleaded not guilty in Malden District Court to two counts of embezzlement or misapplication by a fiduciary, two counts of larceny over $1,200 and one count of unauthorized practice of law. Prosecutors say the case reaches beyond a single missing payment and centers on money clients trusted him to hold, distribute or protect. The allegations also place new attention on whether he kept acting as a lawyer after courts and bar authorities moved to shut down that work.
Prosecutors said the larger of the two alleged thefts began in March 2023, when Rappa started handling an estate matter tied to a civil dispute. According to prosecutor Mary O’Neil, a client later entrusted him with about $660,000 that was supposed to be held in a trust account while the matter played out. The client also paid a separate retainer for legal work. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said the money was not safeguarded as promised and was not returned when the client asked for it back. By April 2025, when the client tried to recover the funds, Rappa allegedly offered repeated excuses, saying he was away, traveling or dealing with family matters. O’Neil told the court that the money had already been spent and that only about $3,000 remained in a Rappa Law business account in May 2025.
Authorities say the second episode came after Rappa had already been told to stop practicing. Ryan said a court ordered him in July 2025 to immediately cease practicing law, close any trust accounts, step away from fiduciary duties and return client funds. Even so, prosecutors allege he continued to handle legal business in late 2025. Ryan said he represented another client in a real estate closing in October 2025 and, by Dec. 29, 2025, had still failed to properly distribute money from that transaction. Prosecutors allege he kept $3,200 and another $18,100 that should have gone to the buyer, for a combined $21,300. Ryan said the pattern was especially troubling because, in her account, the alleged conduct continued after formal court action. What remains unclear is whether investigators believe there are more victims beyond the two clients named in the charges filed Thursday.
The case sits at the center of two overlapping systems: the criminal courts and Massachusetts attorney discipline. Prosecutors said Rappa had been suspended from practicing in 2023, and later orders required him to wind down trust accounts and return client property. Publicly reported attorney-discipline notices also show that the Supreme Judicial Court entered a temporary suspension order against him on Jan. 13, 2026. That timeline matters because client trust accounts are supposed to hold money separately from a lawyer’s own funds. In this case, prosecutors allege one client placed hundreds of thousands of dollars with Rappa for safekeeping during a dispute, then spent months trying to get the money back. The allegations echo a broader category of misconduct that bar regulators treat as among the most serious because the money at issue does not belong to the lawyer. Ryan said Thursday that her office is looking at other similar matters, though she did not identify other targets or say whether more charges are imminent.
In court, Rappa’s lawyer said his client is a father of three and has no prior criminal record. The judge set bail at $2,500. After posting bail, Rappa was ordered to surrender his passport, stay away from witnesses, remain within New England and comply with any Supreme Judicial Court orders already in place, according to prosecutors and local reports from the hearing. Rappa declined to comment publicly after the arraignment. His next court date is May 27 in Malden District Court. The criminal case will now move into the early pretrial stage, where prosecutors can provide additional records and financial evidence and defense lawyers can test the basis for the charges. It is not yet known whether prosecutors will seek indictments in Superior Court, add counts tied to other clients or disclose more detailed banking records in open court before the next hearing.
Outside the courtroom, the facts laid out by prosecutors were blunt and arithmetic-heavy: about $660,000 from one client, another $21,300 tied to a closing, and months of alleged delay before investigators stepped in. Ryan said the case reflected a type of betrayal that can deepen the harm already facing people in legal disputes, because clients often hand over money under court deadlines, settlement terms or estate obligations. O’Neil said repeated requests were made for the funds and that the money was never produced. The setting Thursday was procedural, not dramatic, but the accusations carried weight because they involved ordinary legal tasks that depend on trust: holding money in escrow, managing estate-related funds and distributing closing proceeds on time. Those details, more than any single courtroom moment, framed the allegations prosecutors say they intend to prove.
The case remained at the arraignment stage Thursday, with Rappa free on bail and due back in court May 27. By then, the next major question will be whether prosecutors present additional financial records, identify more alleged victims or expand the charges tied to his work as a suspended attorney.
Author note: Last updated April 3, 2026.