Former Bucks County Rescue Squad chief Scott Mel Bahner has been charged with stealing more than $157,000 by forging checks, misusing rescue squad credit cards and falsifying payroll reports.

Bahner, 49, of Ogden Avenue, Bensalem, was arraigned Friday on counts of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, theft, identity theft, unlawful use of a computer and access device fraud. District Judge Robert L. Wagner set bail at $500,000 unsecured.

An affidavit of probable cause filed Wednesday by Bucks County Detectives describes a long-running course of action in which Bahner abused his position at the Bucks County Rescue Squad (BCRS) to utilize the ambulance company’s funds as though they were his own, as well as a separate deception designed to increase his pay as a Bristol Township employee.

From the Bucks County Rescue Squad, where Bahner had access to squad finances as chief, he is accused of thefts over nine years totaling $127,942.28. Bahner served as chief of BCRS from Jan. 1, 2009, until his resignation in July 2018 at which time he earned a salary of $79,000.

Investigation found Bahner stole more than $87,000 between July 2009 and January 2018 by issuing 70 fraudulent checks to himself and his wife. Several of the checks variously bore the forged signatures of three ranking members of the Rescue Squad.

A majority of the checks were issued with no legitimate purpose, while 31 purported to be reimbursements for Bahner’s time and expenses with the Bucks County Major Incident Response Team – time for which he told Bristol Township in signed paperwork that he received no other compensation.

Another sixteen of the fraudulent checks, totaling more than $13,000, were issued as payments on credit cards belonging to Bahner and at least one member of his family.

In addition to the fraudulent checks, Bahner used several BCRS credit cards to make $40,710.67 in unauthorized personal purchases, including numerous fuel purchases at gas stations near his home, maintenance for his son’s car and three firearms.

During the firearms purchases, Bahner presented his Bristol Township ID card, issued to him as a member of the rescue squad, that appeared to identify him as a police officer. As a result he received law enforcement pricing for the weapons.

He also used BCRS credit cards to make payments to a drug rehabilitation clinic in Florida and the National Rifle Association among many others.

All payments toward BCRS credit card balances were made from the Rescue Squad’s accounts.

Bahner used his access to the squad’s accounting software to conceal the nature of these payments.

Separate from the BCRS thefts, Bahner also stole $29,618.33 from Bristol Township while working as a Community Service Officer for the Bristol Township Police Department.

The part-time position involved on-site work at the township municipal complex, as well as the occasional running of local errands for the police department.

Bahner began working in the position in October 2014. In August 2017, township police command staff investigated apparent discrepancies in Bahner’s time records and found he had submitted payment records for 1,777.66 hours between March 7, 2016 and September 21, 2017, when he was neither on site nor performing his duties as CSO.

Bahner reimbursed the township Nov. 27, 2017 via check.

The criminal case was investigated by Bucks County Detectives and has been assigned for prosecution to Deputy District Attorney Marc J. Furber.

Contact: Marc J. Furber, 215.348.6339, mjfurber@buckscounty.org

Criminal charges are allegations subject to proof in court. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.