‘Appalling breach of public trust’: Mass. State Rep charged in fraud and cover-up scheme, feds say

A Massachusetts State Representative has been arrested for a fraud and cover-up scheme that allegedly defrauded a trade association of tens of thousands of dollars, the United States District Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley announced Friday.

Christopher Flanagan, 37, the state representative for the First Barnstable District (representing Dennis, Yarmouth and Brewster) is accused of stealing funds from the Home Builders Association in Cape Cod while he served as Executive Officer in order to pay his mortgage and buy other personal items.

Flanagan, a Democrat, was arrested Friday morning and appeared in Boston federal court Friday afternoon on five counts of wire fraud and one charge of falsification of records, Foley said.

Foley alleges that Flanagan had thousands of dollars in credit card debt, was missing mortgage payments and had hundreds of dollars in bank overdraft fees at the time of the alleged scheme.

In January 2023, Flanagan allegedly stole $10,000 from the HBA to fund his campaign for state representative.

“It is further alleged that, in addition to stealing HBA funds via official checks and PayPal transfers, Flanagan also stole hundreds of dollars via direct debit transactions from the association’s bank account funds to pay for personal psychic services in July 2022,” Foley states.

Flanagan allegedly tried to conceal the stolen funds by logging onto HBA’s accounting/bookkeeping software using another employee’s account and entering backdated transactions and false transaction codes to account for the stolen funds.

Flanagan allegedly told the HBA Board that he withdrew the funds to compensate himself for HBA-related expenses that he said he had previously paid for out of pocket.

Flanagan allegedly provided two phony expense reports when questioned by the HBA Board. On one expense report, Flanagan allegedly claimed he had spent $159.36 on “Technology Expenses” at Best Buy and another $537.26 on “Office Supplies” at 4Imprint. However, records show the Best Buy purchase was for a portable Bluetooth speaker and that the 4Imprint purchase was for t-shirts supporting Flanagan’s State Representative campaign, according to Foley.

In the second expense report for $3,784.84 of “Office Supplies,” Flanagan’s $613.70 and $361.24 Best Buy purchases were allegedly for an electric dryer and an air conditioner. Additionally, a $1,050.30 Macy’s purchase was allegedly for men’s ties, dress shirts, slacks and sports coats; and a $92.86 purchase at Target was allegedly used on children’s clothes and toys.

Flanagan also allegedly constructed a fake identity, “Jeanne Louise,” while he operated a campaign mailer during his 2022 campaign. After admitting to OCPF that Jeanne Louise was fake and that he himself was the source of the mailer, OCPF expanded its investigation into Flanagan’s campaign finance activity.

The OCPF then requested that Flanagan produce evidence that the $10,000 deposited into his campaign account in January 2023 had indeed come from his personal funds.

However, according to Foley, Flanagan’s bank statements at the time showed he only had $42.28 in his account - showing he could not have deposited the $10,000 campaign check without stealing the HBA money. Flanagan allegedly provided OCPF with another falsified expense reports that claimed that “the $10,000 check from HBA constituted legitimate HBA-reimbursed expenses; that HBA had a practice of allowing Flanagan to withdraw large sums of money for the purpose of expense reimbursement; and therefore, the $10,000 campaign check was a legitimate donation of Flanagan’s own personal funds,” according to Foley.

“Today’s charges against Massachusetts State Representative Christopher Flanagan reveal an appalling breach of public trust. According to the indictment, Mr. Flanagan defrauded the very organization he was supposed to serve – allegedly funneling tens of thousands of dollars into his own pockets to pay off personal bills, buy luxury items and bankroll his political campaign. He allegedly stole money and then went to extraordinary lengths to cover it up, going so far as fabricating fake personas to mislead those who questioned his conduct. This alleged scheme was calculated on every level,” said United States Attorney Leah B. Foley. “No one is entitled to power by way of fraud, and the people of Massachusetts deserve better.”

Governor Maura Healey called for Flanagan to resign from this post.

“These are serious allegations against Representative Flanagan that threaten to undermine the important work of the Legislature and cast doubt on his ability to faithfully serve his constituents. He should resign,” Healey said in a statement.

“The Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Cape Cod is grateful for the diligence of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts for their investigation into a former employee. As this matter is proceeding to trial, we cannot comment any further, except to say the Association trusts the justice system to deliver a fair result,” said April Ducott, HBRACC Board President.

In January, Barnstable police announced in January they received a complaint alleging of “potential criminal activity” involving Flanagan.

The charges of wire fraud each provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of falsification of records provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

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