Ex-Bucks Co. Rescue Squad Chief Stole $157K: DA

BENSALEM, PA — The former chief of the Bucks County Rescue Squad stole more than $157,000 while head of the organization, using the money to make payments to the National Rifle Association, buy firearms, pay a Florida drug-rehab center and more, according to prosecutors.

Scott Mel Bahner, 49, of Bensalem, forged checks to himself and his wife, used rescue squad credit cards for personal expenses and faked payroll reports, says the Bucks County District Attorney's office.

Bahner is charged with dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, theft, identity theft, unlawful use of a computer and access-device fraud. He was arraigned Friday and bail was set at $500,000, according to prosecutors.

According to police documents, Bahner was guilty of "a long-running course of action" in which he scammed the rescue squad and also falsely increased his own pay as a Bristol Township employee.

Over nine years, he stole $127,942.28 from the rescue squad, prosecutors say. He served as the squad's chief from Jan. 1, 2009 through July 2018, when he was earning a salary of $79,000. He stole $87,000 of that by issuing 70 fraudulent checks to himself and his wife, according to the DA's office.

Several of the checks allegedly bore the forged signatures of three other ranking members of the rescue squad. Most were issued with no legitimate purpose, prosecutors say, while 31 were supposedly reimbursements for Bahner's time and expenses — time for which he told Bristol Township in signed paperwork that he had received no other compensation.

Another 16 of the checks, totaling more than $13,000, were issued as payments on personal credit cards belonging to Bahner and at least one of his family members. Bahner also used rescue squad credit cards to make more than $40,000 in unauthorized personal purchases, including three firearms, fuel at local gas stations and repairs on his son's car, the DA's office said.

During the firearms purchases, Bahner also presented his Bristol Township ID card that appeared to identify him as a police officer, getting him law enforcement discounts on the guns, prosecutors say.

They say he also used rescue squad card to make payments to a drug rehabilitation clinic in Florida and to the National Rifle Association, among many others.

Separate from the rescue squad thefts, the DA's office said Friday, Bahner also stole more than $29,000 from Bristol Township while working as a community service officer. The part-time position involved on-site work and running errands for the police department.

He started that job in October 2014 and, in August 2017, township police investigated apparent discrepancies in his time records and found he had submitted payment requests for more than 1,777 hours that he had not actually worked.

Bahner reimbursed the township with a check in November 2017, prosecutor said.