Nicholas Alahverdian, an American on the run wanted for fraud and sexual assault was found in Scotland after contracting Covid-19.
To escape the police, this American fugitive changed his name and even staged his death. But the Covid-19 ended up betraying him. Nicholas Alahverdian, wanted for fraud and sexual assault in Utah and Ohio, has been found alive in Scotland after being hospitalized with the coronavirus. The Providence Journal reported on Wednesday that he was located last month while on life support. At that time he called himself Arthur Knight, but he had in the past also used the name Nicholas Rossi.
“Officers arrested a 34-year-old man in Glasgow on December 13 in connection with an international arrest warrant,” a Scottish police spokesman told The National. Utah authorities said the fugitive had been identified through images related to his extradition act, but also fingerprints and DNA, which were entered into the database of Utah. Interpol.
Funerals organized in 2020
The Utah County District Attorney’s Office said that “investigators have learned that Nicholas Rossi fled the country to avoid prosecution in Ohio and attempted to trick investigators and lawmakers in other states into believing that ‘he had died’. His fake death was announced in February 2020, two months after he informed reporters from various media outlets that he was suffering from advanced stage cancer and only had a few weeks left to live. He then did everything to publicize his fight for the defense of children, explaining that he did not have much time to do so. His obituary described him as a “warrior” whose last words were “fear not and run to the bliss of the sun”. His funeral had even been organized in the presence of a woman posing as his wife. It was also stated that his wife and their two children were by his side when he passed away. But the police ended up having doubts about him, believing that it was likely that he was actually on the run.
Nicholas Alahverdian had made a name for himself after publicly advocating for a better child protection system. But at the same time, he had developed a system of fraud. His former foster mom said the man managed to get 22 credit cards in her husband’s name, raising more than $200,000. He also owes a woman he was briefly married to $60,000. Contacted by phone, Kathryn Heckendorn shared her relief that her former husband had been caught. “At first I couldn’t believe it. I thought he hired someone to contact me and see where I was, because that’s the kind of thing he would do,” she said. A spokesperson for the Crown Office in Scotland said: “Arthur Knight appeared by video link on Thursday, December 23, 2021, in connection with extradition proceedings to the United States. No future date has yet been set.”
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