A chiropractor who practiced in Bethlehem Township pleaded guilty Wednesday to perpetrating a $236,000 healthcare fraud scheme.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office, 53-year-old Nicholas Bufanio of Hellertown billed insurance companies for $236,000 worth of services he didn’t provide. He routinely submitted claims for patients who failed to appear for appointments and submitted claims for days when he was not in the office, the release says.

From November 2017 until December 2018, Bufanio was convalescing at home but submitted bogus claims to health insurers pretending that he was keeping normal office hours and rendering chiropractic treatment, the release says.

“Physicians and other medical professionals who fraudulently bill insurance companies are thieves – they steal from both the companies and the honest subscribers,” said U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain in the news release.

Bufanio pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of health care fraud before U.S. District Court Judge Joseph F. Leeson, Jr. He’s a doctor of chiropractic medicine and has operated Community Chiropractic, Inc. in Bethlehem Township since at least 2011.

The case was investigated by U.S. Department of Labor-Employee Benefits Security Administration and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney M. Beth Leahy.

Defense attorney Marc Fisher had no comment on behalf of Bufanio.

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Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. If there’s anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.