RI's Nicholas Alahverdian returning to US four years after faking his death. What to know.
Former Rhode Islander and con man Nicholas Alahverdian has finally left on that jet plane his Scottish prison mates taunted him about – headed to Utah to face rape charges, almost four years after faking his death.
Alahverdian’s sudden extradition comes weeks after a three-judge panel sitting in the High Court in Edinburgh denied his appeal request, but while police in Essex, England, were still contemplating whether there was sufficient evidence to charge him in connection to a 2017 rape allegation there.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said in a cryptic, one-sentence statement that “We assisted partner agencies with the extradition of a 36-year-old man."
Law enforcement authorities in Utah later confirmed Friday that Alahverdian was on his way back to Utah, where he is charged with two rapes and a separate sexual battery accusation, all allegedly occurring in 2008.
Alahverdian, aka Nicholas Rossi, tied up Scottish legal system for years
Alahverdian, known in Scotland by his former surname Nicholas Rossi, had masqueraded since at least December 2021 when he was arrested in Glasgow as a former Irish orphan named Arthur Knight who claimed he was being wrongly accused by a conspiratorial justice system.
His outrageous claims convinced few, if any, but nevertheless tied up the Scottish court system for two years.
His identity had been confirmed in court through fingerprints, mug shots of earlier arrests in Pawtucket and identifying tattoos, but authorities also had DNA evidence, which was never entered into evidence.
Why Nicholas Alahverdian faked his death in 2020
Alahverdian, who is 36, faked his death in February 2020 by seeding Rhode Island media outlets with the bogus story that he was soon to die of cancer – and then issuing a press release announcing his demise two months later.
At the time the FBI sought his arrest for an alleged $200,000 credit card fraud committed on his former foster father. And Utah authorities were investigating the first rape allegation against him; they issued a warrant for his arrest seven months after he supposedly died.
More: 'Dateline NBC' to cover story of RI fugitive Nicholas Alahverdian. Here's the story.
An FBI search of Alahverdian’s iCloud account and cell phone records led investigators to Scotland, and in December 2021 they arrested the convicted sex offender in a Glasgow hospital, where he lay critically ill with COVID.
Last August, Extradition Court Sheriff Norman McFadyen ruled there were no impediments to returning Alahverdian to Utah and noted: “He is as dishonest and deceitful as he is evasive and manipulative.”
Months earlier Alahverdian complained to McFadyen that fellow inmates in Saughton Prison were taunting him with repeated renditions of John Denver’s “Leaving On a Jet Plane.”
Alahverdian set to arrive in Utah Friday afternoon
David O. Leavitt, the former Utah prosecutor who sought Alahverdian's extradition – and was the target of Alahverdian’s public attempts at character assassination – issued a statement Friday, extending his “heartfelt respect and gratitude to law enforcement agencies worldwide for their unwavering commitment to seeking justice for the victims” in the Alahverdian case.
“Today,” he said, “marks a pivotal moment in the pursuit of justice, as the responsibility shifts to Utah County. The victims deserve no less, and the world will be watching.”
Alahverdian was flying on a private or chartered plane, authorities said, and was expected to arrive in Salt Lake City Friday afternoon and then transported about 45 minutes to the Utah County Jail.
Sgt. Spencer Cannon, a spokesman for the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, said Alahverdian would be fingerprinted as part of the booking process – particularly “because of the assertion he’s not Nicholas Rossi but that he’s Arthur Knight.”
Contact Tom Mooney at: tmooney@providencejournal.com
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Nicholas Rossi, RI con man who faked his death, extradited to US
