Nicholas Alahverdian, 35, is an American citizen who allegedly faked his own death and fled the country to escape multiple rape charges in Utah.

Alahverdian is a former reporter and politician who campaigned against Rhode Island’s social service system, citing his experience of alleged abuse and neglect while in foster care. He tried to sue the Department of Children, Youth and Families in 2011, but dismissed the lawsuit when Rhode Island waived his $200,000 medical debt.

In addition to his pending Utah rape charges, authorities in Rhode Island have stated that Alahverdian is also wanted in their state for failing to register as a sex offender. The FBI has released in a statement that he is additionally facing fraud charges in Ohio, where he was convicted of sex-related charges in 2008.

For years, law enforcement agencies from Utah and Rhode Island, along with the FBI, investigated Alahverdian. In 2020, members of Alahverdian’s family posted a remembrance on social media stating that he had passed away at the age of 32 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Many local news stations reported on his death.

Authorities identified Alahverdian in Dec. 2021 by his fingerprints and tattoos after he was found in a hospital in Glasgow, Scotland while being treated for symptoms of COVID-19. The Edinburgh Sherriff’s Court stated that there was a scar on one of his arms indicating that Alahverdian had attempted to remove one of the tattoos.

Alahverdian, now claiming to be an Irish-born orphan named Arthur Knight insists that he is not the fugitive and has never even been to the United States. Since his arrest in Scotland, Alahverdian has made several court appearances and fired six of his lawyers. The FBI and authorities of Scotland are currently in the process of extraditing Alahverdian back to the United States.

Multiple issues arose in court, with Alahverdian providing doctor’s notes stating he couldn’t attend because he was “mostly bedridden,” and accusing the lead U.S. prosecutor trying to extradite him of “ritualized child abuse.”

Alahverdian still insists that he is innocent and detailed in an interview with Dateline his intent to sue Scottish authorities and the hospital he was treated at for “putting tattoos on him” in addition to “changing his fingerprints while he was in a comatose state.”

Extradition is being handled by Scottish authorities but according to the Dateline report, his transportation back to the U.S. is not going to happen for a while due to Alahverdian’s declining health in addition to the Essex Police Department investigating Alahverdian for multiple sexual assaults in England. If he is found guilty, he would serve his sentence in the United Kingdom before being extradited to the U.S