BOSTON – The Chairman of the Needham Parks and Recreation Commission has been indicted 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 today and will appear in federal court in Boston at 1:00 PM.
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,…
This remains the most prevalent form of financial crime globally. It targets the direct access points to your money: your cards and your bank accounts.
- Skimming: Criminals use small devices called “skimmers” placed over ATM or point-of-sale card slots to capture the data from your card’s magnetic strip.
- Card-Not-Present (CNP) Fraud: This occurs during online shopping where a physical card isn’t required. Thieves use stolen card numbers, expiry dates, and CVV codes to make unauthorized purchases.
- Account Takeover (ATO): A hacker gains access to your online banking credentials (often through malware or phishing) and changes the contact details or passwords, locking you out while they drain your funds.