Saturday, 19 April 2025

BREAKING: Justice Department Announces Indictment Against Democrat State Lawmaker

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The U.S. Department of Justice announced an indictment against a Massachusetts state lawmaker for an alleged fraud and cover-up scheme.

“Massachusetts State Representative 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 local trade association of tens of thousands of dollars, used to fund personal and political expenses and falsifying records to conceal his alleged conduct,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts read.

“Christopher Flanagan, 37, of Dennis, Mass. was indicted on five counts of wire fraud and one count of falsification of records. Flanagan was arrested this morning and will appear in federal court in Boston at 2:30 p.m. today,” it continued.

“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,” Foley added.

WCVB reports:

According to the indictment, Flanagan stole a total of $36,000 in HBA funds from the association’s bank account via wire transfers to pay down his debt.

In one instance, Flanagan also stole hundreds of dollars through direct debit transactions from the association’s bank account to pay for personal psychic services.

Officials said Flanagan also concealed the stolen funds from the HBA Board by logging onto HBA’s accounting/bookkeeping software using another employee’s account, entering backdated transactions to account for the stolen funds and entering false transaction codes (e.g., “office supplies,” “travel” and “bank charges”) for the withdrawals.

Flanagan allegedly told the HBA Board that he withdrew funds to reimburse himself for HBA-related expenses that he had paid for out-of-pocket with his personal funds. When the HBA Board requested proof, Flanagan allegedly provided two phony expense reports.

According to the indictment, the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) opened an investigation in December 2022 regarding a campaign mailer that was distributed during Flanagan’s 2022 campaign for State Representative, purportedly a group called “Conservatives for Dennis.”

Flanagan attributed the source of the mailer to a false persona he created named “Jeanne Louise,” whom he claimed was a member of an independent conservative group that had endorsed his candidacy, officials said. He allegedly created and sent phony emails to OCPF purporting to be on behalf of vendors responsible for creating and distributing the mailer. He later admitted Jeanne Louise was fake and he was the source of the mailer, officials said.

Flanagan said a $10,000 deposit into his campaign account was from his personal bank account, however one week before the deposit Flanagan’s personal account showed a balance of $42.28.

Flanagan, a Democrat, is the Massachusetts State Representative for the First Barnstable District, which includes the towns of Dennis, Yarmouth and Brewster on Cape Cod.

Per Cape Cod Times:

Flanagan used the funds to pay for personal expenses, including psychic services, mortgage bills and credit card debt, the indictment alleged. He also allegedly used the funds for campaign materials.

According to the indictment, Flanagan also allegedly attempted to conceal the misuse of the funds by using another HBA employee’s account to create expense reports for items like “office supplies” and “technology.”

A federal grand jury in Boston indicted Flanagan on the six charges in the indictment.


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