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Needham Parks and Recreation Chairman Arrested on Fraud and Tax Charges
On Friday, June 5, the chairman of the Needham Parks and Recreation Commission was arrested on charges related to a federal grand jury indictment in connection with the alleged transfer of funds from Needham Baseball and Softball (NBS), where he was a member of the board of directors from early 2019 to 2025, to his own personal account, according to an announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
Christopher Gerstel, 50, is charged in a 17-count indictment that includes 12 counts of wire fraud, two counts of filing false tax returns and three counts of failure to file tax returns.
Mr. Gerstel is alleged to have stolen over $200,000 in NBS funds between about June 2019 to October 2024, performing over 200 wire transfers to move funds from the umpire payment system into his personal bank account. The alleged theft was revealed when a new treasurer of the NBS Board of Directors discovered that large transfers had been made from the NBS bank account into the umpire payment system.
“Gerstel was the only NBS board member with access to the payment software system, ArbiterPay, that NBS used to pay professional umpires,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the June 5th statement.
After gaining access to the umpire payment system, the treasurer allegedly discovered that over $250,000 had been transferred from that payment system to Mr. Gerstel’s personal bank account.
Mr. Gerstel is believed to have used the majority of the funds to pay thousands of dollars in credit card debt, make car payments, and cover personal expenditures that included payments at country clubs and withdrawals at casinos.
Mr. Gerstel is also alleged to have lowered his federal income tax liability by failing to report the funds he stole from NBS on his 2019 and 2022 tax returns, and by failing to file tax returns in 2020, 2021, and 2023.
The charges of wire fraud and falsification of records each carry a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of filing false tax returns carries a maximum sentence of up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000. The charge of failing to file tax returns carries a maximum sentence of up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $25,000.
