A Massachusetts Democrat state lawmaker was indicted on 5 counts of wire fraud and one depend of falsification of information, the Justice Division introduced on Thursday.
Christopher Flanagan, a state rep for the First Barnstable District, was arrested for utilizing stolen funds for private and political bills.
“Massachusetts State Consultant for the First Barnstable District has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for allegedly orchestrating a multi-faceted scheme that defrauded a neighborhood commerce affiliation of tens of hundreds of {dollars}, used to fund private and political bills and falsifying information to hide his alleged conduct,” the DOJ said.
“Christopher Flanagan, 37, of Dennis, Mass. was indicted on 5 counts of wire fraud and one depend of falsification of information. Flanagan was arrested this morning and can seem in federal courtroom in Boston at 2:30 p.m. at this time,” the DOJ mentioned.
In accordance with the indictment, in October 2021, dealing with private monetary problem, Flanagan stole $36,000 from the Dwelling Builders Affiliation (HBA) in Cape Cod whereas he served as the manager officer of the group.
“FLANAGAN defrauded the HBA by (a) utilizing his signatory authority as HBA Government Officer to secretly withdraw tens of hundreds of {dollars} from HBA’s financial institution accounts; (b) getting into false info in HBA’s monetary bookkeeping information; (c) offering materially false and deceptive HBA monetary info to the HBA Board throughout board conferences; and (d) creating and submitting false expense stories to the HBA Board to additional conceal his fraud,” the indictment learn.
For the following two years, Flanagan wired hundreds of {dollars} to himself to fund his private and political bills.
In a single occasion, Flanagan is accused of stealing lots of of {dollars} in HBA funds to pay for psychic companies.
The feds additionally accused Flanagan of obstructing the investigation.
Flanagan is dealing with as much as 40 years in jail.
“Right now’s expenses towards Massachusetts State Consultant Christopher Flanagan reveal an appalling breach of public belief. In accordance with the indictment, Mr. Flanagan defrauded the very group he was speculated to serve – allegedly funneling tens of hundreds of {dollars} into his personal pockets to repay private payments, purchase luxurious gadgets and bankroll his political marketing campaign. He allegedly stole cash after which went to extraordinary lengths to cowl it up, going as far as fabricating faux personas to mislead those that questioned his conduct. This alleged scheme was calculated on each stage,” mentioned United States Legal professional Leah B. Foley. “Nobody is entitled to energy by the use of fraud, and the individuals of Massachusetts deserve higher.”
