Herman "Hesh" Rabkin (4 February 1929-) was a Jewish loan shark and an advisor to DiMeo crime family acting boss Tony Soprano.
Biography[]
Herman Rabkin was born in New Jersey on February 4th 1929 to a Jewish family, and he made his fortune in the recording industry by founding F-Note Records during the 1950s and 1960s by bringing many young African-American musicians to prominence, getting royalties by having his name added as a co-writer on many songs.
Rabkin later became an associate of the DiMeo crime family, becoming a trusted advisor to acting bosses Junior Soprano and Tony Soprano; Junior's brother and Tony's father Johnny Soprano was a silent partner in Rabkin's music company. In 1999, Rabkin helped Soprano with defrauding HMO medical insurance companies through their debtor Alex Mahaffey, and he was also involved with casino and racetrack gambling.
In 2006, Rabkin and his son Eli were beaten up by Lupertazzi crime family boss Phil Leotardo after they were accused of making collections from Lupertazzi territories. Soprano would later negotiate the paying of restitution to Rabkin and his son by Leotardo. Rabkin's relationship with Soprano would be tested by Soprano's inability to pay back a $200,000 bridge loan and its $3,000-a-week vig, but Soprano paid the loan back to Rabkin out of loyalty after Rabkin's girlfriend Renata died. Despite this, their relationship was not as warm as it once was.