BOSTON — The chairman of the Needham Parks and Recreation Commission was arrested Friday, June 5, 2026, after a federal grand jury indicted him on fraud and tax charges in connection with an alleged scheme to steal more than $200,000 from a local Little League organization.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Christopher Gerstel, 50, was charged in a 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 Friday and was scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston at 1:00 p.m. the same day of his arrest.
Gerstel currently serves as chairman of the Needham Parks and Recreation Commission. From approximately early 2019 to early 2025, he was also a member of the Board of Directors of Needham Baseball and Softball, a Little League organization based in Needham.
Federal prosecutors say that in his role as vice president of baseball operations for Needham Baseball and Softball, Gerstel was the only board member with access to ArbiterPay, the payment software system the organization used to pay professional umpires.
Beginning as early as June 2019, Gerstel was allegedly facing personal financial difficulty, including owing thousands of dollars in outstanding credit card debt.
According to the indictment, from about June 2019 to October 2024, Gerstel stole more than $200,000 from Needham Baseball and Softball by transferring funds from the umpire payment system into his own personal bank account. Gerstel allegedly made more than 200 separate wire transfers from June 2019 to October 2024.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Gerstel used most of the stolen funds to pay down thousands of dollars in credit card debt, make car payments, and cover other personal expenses, including expenses incurred at country clubs and cash withdrawals made at casinos.
According to the indictment, the alleged theft was discovered after a new treasurer was appointed to the Needham Baseball and Softball Board of Directors and found that large transfers had been made from the organization’s bank account into the umpire payment system.
Once the treasurer gained access to the umpire payment system, they discovered that more than $250,000 in transfers had allegedly been made from that system to Gerstel’s personal bank account.
The indictment also alleges that Gerstel failed to report the stolen funds on his tax returns for tax years 2019 and 2022. Federal prosecutors say he also failed to file tax returns for 2020, 2021, and 2023, in an attempt to lower his federal income tax liability.
The wire fraud charges 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 fine of up to $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.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Thomas Demeo, special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Boston Field Office; and Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Division, announced the charges.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Maynard of the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting the case.
