CRIME

In shocking admission, RI con man Alahverdian says he lied and faked his death. Here's why.

Tom Mooney

Providence Journal

Nicholas Alahverdian gave up the whole lie on Wednesday – the four-year ruse of his fake death, the bogus accent he'd adopted as Irishman Arthur Knight, the years of insistence before television cameras that he was not a Rhode Island con man accused of what he once himself called “despicable acts.”

Alahverdian, 37, admitted who he was during a bail hearing in a Utah court room for one of two rape charges he’s facing, both dating back to 2008.

He explained his years of deception and name changes as an effort to save his life from “death threats” – and not because he was running from authorities, including the FBI, which was additionally investigating fraud charges against him.

He said he received “two credible threats” dating back to around 2018, which came from “elected officials with the government of Rhode Island.”

Alahverdian claims he fled over threats

The threats, he said, were because of his State House advocacy work for children stuck in poor conditions in the state’s child welfare system. The threats came in the form of phone calls and emails.

When asked to identify who threatened him, Alahverdian said, “I don’t want to give a mouse cheese.”

The prosecutor paused for a moment, then asked, “What would giving their names ... how would that give a mouse cheese?”

“Meaning that would stoke the fire they’ve had to continue with their actions against me,” replied Alahverdian. “That’s why I haven’t gone public.”

When pressed by the prosecutor, the judge closed the courtroom temporarily so that Alahverdian could provide more details.

Prosecutor says Alahverdian a 'flight risk'

But prior to the closed session, Alahverdian said that because of the threats against him and early years of traumatic abuse as a ward of the state, he chose to fake his death and change his name several times to hide away in Europe while he pursued public relations work.

An incredulous-sounding prosecutor asked: “You said you didn’t want to go on and get publicity because you didn’t want your life or your family’s life to be in danger. Did you think going on public television was a good way to keep your identity quiet?”

For three years while he fought extradition from Scotland, Alahverdian and his English wife, Miranda, denied to international media and the court his real identity, going so far as to explain to a Scottish extradition judge that those identifying tattoos on his arms must have been inked there while he was in a COVID coma.

Said the prosecutor on Wednesday: “For somebody who has faked his own death, who denied who they were for three years in a foreign country, saying, 'I am not that person, I have never been that person,' and then just come in here and say, 'Well, yeah, I am that person, but I was hiding from two people who threatened to kill me …'”

That kind of behavior, said the prosecutor, was a textbook example “of flight risk.”

Alahverdian points to two RI politicians to corroborate the threats

When asked who could substantiate these threats made against him, Alahverdian named two Rhode Island politicians whom he characterized as “associates of mine.”

He named state Rep. Raymond Hull and East Providence Mayor Roberto DaSilva, whom Alahverdian knew when DaSilva was a State House lawmaker.

Alahverdian claimed he'd reached out to the two men “routinely” since faking his death in February 2020.

“I reach out once or twice a week,” Alahverdian said. “I maintained contact with them frequently.”

Reached Wednesday, Hull said, “No. It’s not true.”

A spokeswoman for DaSilva declined to comment.

Why did Alahverdian really leave Rhode Island?

Alahverdian said the threats were not the only reason he took a one-way fight to Ireland in 2017. He was also pursuing public relations work.

But in 2019, Alahverdian was also busy trying to get his name off the registered sex offenders list.

In 2008 Alahverdian was convicted of groping a woman at an Ohio community college. He then attempted to sue the woman for libel and had his appeal request tossed when his key piece of supposedly new evidence was ruled a fake blog post.

DNA from that case would, authorities say, tie him to a Utah rape that same year.

Late in 2019, an FBI agent, pursuing a credit card fraud complaint from Alahverdian’s Ohio foster parents, spoke to Alahverdian over the phone. Alahverdian allegedly told the agent he had moved to Ireland because that country did not have an extradition agreement with the United States.

The death threats against him have lingered for a “a few years,” Alahverdian told the court Wednesday.

However, he said the threats “didn’t reach a level of credibility” until 2020.

“When they started ramping up their fervor in which they made their threats, I was told by Mayor DaSilva and Representative Hull that I needed to stay away from these individuals and to live my life," Alahverdian told the court.

The two lawmakers warned him “out of care for me and because of our work together to reform the foster care system in Rhode Island,” he said.

What happened at the hearing?

Alahverdian’s defense lawyer argued for bail on Wednesday, saying that his client was not a threat to the alleged victim in the case, would agree to electronic monitoring and that his physical incapacities from COVID – Alahverdian uses oxygen and a wheelchair – made him no flight risk.

But Fourth District Court Judge Derek P. Pullan said he was not persuaded that Alahverdian’s physical condition would prevent him from fleeing.

He noted that Alahverdian’s wife was still providing him money “that could assist him in potential flight,” and that Alahverdian had incentive to do so, including facing a second felony rape charge.

Citing Alahverdian’s history of duplicity, including running previously and using a stolen driver’s license in Ireland, the likelihood of him jumping bail “is very highly probable.”

Pullan ordered Alahverdian held without bail.

Alahverdian is scheduled to appear again in court on Thursday on the second rape charge.

This story has been updated to add new information.

Contact Tom Mooney at: tmooney@providencejournal.com