Banned Melbourne chiropractor’s bizarre reason for stealing

A Ringwood chiropractor who stole thousands of dollars to play online poker with his mates has been banned from practising.

Chiropractor Nathan Petridis has been banned from his profession

A chiropractor who blamed his decision to steal almost $4000 over multiple days to play online poker on a “stupid night out with friends” has been banned from the profession.

Former Ringwood chiropractor Nathan Petridis will need to wait more than two years to try and reapply for his registration after VCAT found the thief also worked while unregistered and repeatedly lied to the regulator.

Tribunal documents show Petridis, who failed to alert regulators he was charged by police in August 2019, was placed on a Criminal Justice Diversion Program for theft in December 2019 at the Ringwood Magistrates Court.

The Tribunal heard he worked at Ringwood’s Almond Wellness Centre and Ferntree Gully’s Balanced Life, which he part-owned and had a tenant, another health practitioner.

Petridis was also found to have worked while unregistered.

Petridis admitted he made a “stupid mistake”, stealing $3,933.05 over five months from his tenant by using their shared payment machine to transfer ‘refunds’ from their account onto his card.

VCAT found, despite admitting to the theft and his “general words of regret”, the former chiropractor continued to “downplay his conduct”.

“For example, in the witness box, Petridis stated: that the theft charges related only to one stupid night out with friends, when the conduct was over approximately five months, had to be conducted on the premises of the clinic.”

In addition to the theft, VCAT also reprimanded Petridis for several issues relating to his registration, with the chiropractor actually spending the majority of his career – which began in 2013 – suspended or under restrictions.

This was despite Petridis telling the Chiropractic Board in 2014 – having been caught working with a lapsed registration – that he would “never let my registration lapse or do the wrong thing again in the future”.

The tribunal heard he failed to follow the rules on his registration – imposed after the 2014 breach – between September 2015 and April 2020 and repeatedly told “calculated” lies to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency to suggest he was.

Petridis will need to wait more than two years to try and reapply for his registration

When his rule-breaking saw his registration renewal denied, he continued to work anyway, practising while unregistered from May until September 2016.

His registration was renewed in September 2016 with new conditions that Petridis, again, did not follow.

“From 2014, Dr Petridis appeared to be willing to say what he needed to say at any time to be able to continue doing whatever he wished,” VCAT found.

The tribunal found Petridis continued to “lack genuine insight and remorse”, had “blatant disregard” for the conditions on his registration and was at “significant risk of continuing his conduct”.

“In the witness box, Dr Petridis stated: … that although he knew it was not a good idea to lie, he thought just telling a percentage of the truth would be enough.”

They acknowledged he had accepted the Chiropractor’s board’s allegations “early in the Tribunal process” and struggled with depression and anxiety symptoms.

They also noted he had completed several professional development courses since his April 2020 suspension, had returned the stolen money and waited more than three years for the Tribunal hearing – meaning his punishment would translate to more than five years out of practice.