Police are investigating a Cape Cod state lawmaker over fraud allegations

Cape Cod police are investigating a state lawmaker after his former employer filed a complaint accusing him of misappropriating tens of thousands of dollars in what it called a “potential fraudulent use” of one of his accounts, according to police records.

Officials with the Cape Cod Association of Home Builders and Remodelers filed the complaint with Yarmouth police in late September, months after state Rep. Chris Flanagan, a first-term Dennis Port Democrat, resigned from his post of executive officer of the non-profit trade association. to the moment of his resignationstate campaign finance regulators had separately fined Flanagan for misleading them during an unrelated investigation.

According to a heavily redacted police report released Friday, Flanagan had initially been placed on administrative leave from the association. Officials said they found “inconsistencies” with a business account, and the report cites a “secondary” savings account that only Flanagan and one other unnamed person had access to.

One person, whose name was redacted from the police report, “met with Flanagan several times to talk about the embezzled funds but was unable to get a reasonable response from him,” according to the Sept. 21 report.

The four-page report lists $26,500 as “stolen.”

“It appears that Flanagan made charges to his personal credit card, then used the (redacted) account to reimburse his expenses,” according to the report.

Flanagan, who won re-election to his seat earlier this month, did not respond to a request for comment.

Yarmouth police on Friday referred the comment to Barnstable Police, who are handling the “ongoing investigation,” according to a Yarmouth police letter released with the report. The Boston Broadsidea conservative-leaning outlet, first reported the allegations.

A spokesman for the Cape Cod Association of Home Builders and Remodelers said Friday that officials there have filed the complaint with Yarmouth police. In a statement, April Ducott, president of the association’s board of directors, called the allegations “deeply disturbing and disappointing” but declined to comment further “as the investigation progresses.”

Barnstable police did not respond to requests for comment Friday. A spokesman for the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s office said it could not comment “whether or not there is an investigation involving” Flanagan.

Ana Vivas, spokeswoman for House Speaker Ron Mariano, said her office learned of the investigation from media reports and that she “has no basis to conclude that it is in any way related to her role as a member of the House of Representatives . “

“Given that there appears to be an active investigation by law enforcement, we will refrain from making any further comment,” Vivas said.

Flanagan’s resignation from the trade association in May it came after state campaign finance regulators separately fined 15,000 dollars for violations related to his successful 2022 campaign.

The Office of Campaign and Political Finance said Flanagan created an alias known as “Jeanne Louise” to hide her role in paying for a mailer in support of her campaign, which allegedly came from a group called “Conservatives for Dennis “.

Winning the Barnstable First District that fall, Flanagan flipped a Republican-held seat. This year, Flanagan fended off a challenge from Gerald O’Connell, a Republican from Yarmouth.

Matt Stout can be reached at [email protected]. Follow L @mattpstout.