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The Chairman of the Needham Parks and Recreation Commission was indicted Friday
Prosecutors allege that between 2019 and 2024 Christopher Gerstel made more than 200 wire transfers from the league's umpire-payment system into his personal bank account
Some of these funds were allegedly used to make cash withdrawals at area casinos
The Chairman of the Needham Parks and Recreation Commission was indicted Friday by a federal grand jury in connection with a scheme to defraud a local little league out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Christopher Gerstel, 50, was charged in an 17-count indictment with 12 counts of wire fraud, two counts of filing false tax returns and three counts of failure to file tax returns. Gerstel was arrested earlier and appeared in federal court in Boston at 1:00 PM.
Prosecutors allege that between 2019 and 2024 he made more than 200 wire transfers from the league's umpire-payment system into his personal bank account. He is accused of using the ill-gotten funds of approximately $250,000 to pay off credit card debts, make car payments and cash withdrawals at casinos.
Gerstel was released pending trial after entering a not-guilty plea to the fraud and tax charges. The magistrate judge ordered his release on conditions rather than detaining him including surrendering any passport, estrictions on obtaining new travel documents and supervision by pretrial services.
Gerstel currently serves as Chairman of the Needham Parks and Recreation Commission. From approximately early 2019 to early 2025, he was a member of the Board of Directors of Needham Baseball and Softball (NBS), a little league organization based in Needham, Mass. In his role as Vice President of Baseball Operations for NBS, Gerstel was the only NBS board member with access to the payment software system, ArbiterPay, that NBS used to pay professional umpires.
According to the indictment, the alleged theft was revealed after a new treasurer was appointed to the NBS Board of Directors and discovered that large transfers had been made from the NBS bank account into the umpire payment system. Once the treasurer gained access to the umpire payment system, they discovered over $250,000 in transfers had allegedly been made from that system to Gerstel’s personal bank account.
The indictment also alleges that for tax years 2019 and 2022, Gerstel failed to report the funds that he stole from NBS on his tax returns and that in 2020, 2021, and 2023, Gerstel failed to file tax returns. As a result, Gerstel allegedly lowered his federal income tax liability.
The charge of wire fraud carries 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 falsification of records carries a maximum sentence of 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 fine of up to $100,000. The charge of failing to file tax returns carries a maximum of up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $25,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
