An American fugitive who faked his own death and assumed a new identity abroad to evade a US rape charge was arrested again - this time wearing an oxygen mask and pajamas.
A news photographer captured the moment Nicholas Alahverdian, 34, was escorted from his Glasgow flat in a wheelchair last Thursday and transported via ambulance to an Edinburgh courthouse after he skipped a scheduled extradition hearing.
Since orchestrating his own death, Alahverdian has been enjoying a new life in Scotland, where he reportedly presented himself as an eccentric Panama hat-wearing university professor from Bristol.
He reportedly introduced himself to neighbors as 'Arthur Knight' - an affable 'academic' with a penchant for a three-piece suit with a pocket square and an upper class British accent. He was a regular at local bars, where he would be seen drinking expensive drams of single-malt whisky and bemoaning Brexit, according to The Times.
But in his previous life, Alahverdian is a convicted sex pest accused by numerous people of fraud, sexually deviant behavior, abuse, and extortion. Twice married to American wives, both women filed restraining orders against him.
During his most recent arrest, he draped a velvet blanket over his face and held his head low as Scottish officers wheeled him to a waiting ambulance. He appeared before a judge last Friday was ordered jailed until his next appearance over flight risk concerns.
Elusive conman Nicholas Alahverdian was transported from his Glasgow flat last week via ambulance to a court hearing in Edinburgh. He was seen in a wheelchair wearing an oxygen mask, pajamas, and socks
Since fleeing to Scotland, Alahverdian attempted to hide his true identity by pretending to be an eccentric Panama hat-wearing university professor from Bristol, neighbors have claimed
Alahverdian, 34, faked his own death in 2020 and fled the US to evade a rape charge in Utah
For nearly two years, Alahverdian lived quietly abroad after feigning terminal cancer and faking his own death. In his self-penned obituary, he claimed his ashes were scattered at sea following his February 29, 2020, 'death'.
But his cover was blown after he was taken to hospital with a life-threatening case of Covid and placed on a ventilator last year. He was arrested December 13 by Interpol, which used tattoo scars to discover his true identity.
He was released on bail on December 23 under the understanding he needed more treatment, but the next day admitted himself from the hospital, Scottish prosecutors told court.
ProsecutorJennifer Johnston said during last Friday's hearing that Alahverdian made several attempts to leave QEUH with oxygen canisters last month. On one occasion he tried to hire a private ambulance, and offered to pay about $135US to a taxi driver to take him West End Park Street home.
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DailyMail.com recently detailed how he, while living in the United Kingdom under his assumed identity, swindled a Canadian TV star in 2020.
Canadian food writer and TV star Nafsika Antypas, 44, told DailyMail.com that shortly before his 'death,' Alahverdian moved abroad under the name Arthur Brown and began scamming her out of about $30,000US ($40,000CAD), all while his friends mourned his purported passing.
Antypas - a plant-based food advocate with her own TV show who lives in Montreal - virtually hired Brown as a freelance public relations manager to help grow her eponymous brand, believing he was an international business lawyer with experience working in television.
'I feel really stupid,' she told DailyMail.com this week. 'I knew something was off about him.'
She said she believed him to be living in Dublin, Ireland, at the time of their online introduction with his purported wife, Miranda Knight. When they spoke on the phone, she said he had a British accent and pronounced stutter.
Canadian food personality Nafsika Antypas, 44, tells DailyMail.com that after his death, Alahverdian moved abroad under the name Arthur Brown and scammed her out of about $30,000US ($40,000CAD)
Rather than deliver on what he promised, Antypas discovered - after paying him $7,500US ($10,000CAD) a month for four months - that the man she knew as Arthur Brown was a phony who produced no results. When she demanded to see his work, she said he threatened to extort her unless she gave him an additional $55,000US ($70,000CAD).
Antypas hired Nicholas Alahverdian (pictured) - who at the time was using the alias Nicholas Brown - to help build her vegan food brand, she says
Texts, photos and emails Antypas shared with the DailyMail.com show how Alahverdian fabricated a red-headed wife, two family dogs and a myriad of illnesses - even sending her photos of his 'wife' in the hospital at one point - in order to avoid doing the work he promised her, based on credentials he never had in the first place.
Antypas says she ignored gnawing suspicions and - as he sent her friendly texts and presents for her birthday - lowered her guard.
But every time Antypas asked Alahverdian to produce his work, she said he suddenly fell ill with asthma, migraines or some other ailment. On other occasions, he blamed his sick 'wife' or hospitalized dog for failing to deliver.
On one occasion, she says he sent pictures of his so-called wife, who he said was a British national, lying unconscious in a hospital bed, as proof she was recovering from appendicitis.
During another time, he claimed he was taking his purported wife on a two-week cruise for their 'second honeymoon' and was unavailable to work.
'I feel really stupid,' Antypas told DailyMail.com this week. 'I knew something was off about him'
Alahverdian claimed to be married to a British woman named Miranda Knight and texted a photo of this red-headed woman to Antypas. A private investigator could not find anyone by that name
Antypas says he sent pictures of his so-called wife, who he said was a British national, lying unconscious in a hospital bed, as proof she was recovering from appendicitis
In April 2020, she sent him a text advising him that she was cutting off payment until he could prove the $30,000 she had already given him was yielding results.
'Hi Nicholas, hope you're feeling better,' she said. 'I spoke to my accountant today and we agree that I cannot keep paying you your fee until you show me your work.
'By now you were supposed to have raised sufficient funds for the tv show and other products we had discussed. I understand things can't take off overnight but I believe 4 months was enough time to see SUFFICIENT results.'
Alahverdian's response was filled with rage and, in keeping with his alias, even incorporated English spelling into his response, according to the text she shared with DailyMail.com
'I'll wait for you to wake so we can talk about this before I reply to your nonsensical comment,' he replied.
'Absolutely appalled by your comments but I will give you the benefit of the doubt and we can speak when it is morning there. But I am absolutely appalled.
'I would be happy to "show you my work," he continued.
'I am shocked, appalled, and abhorred that you would insinuate that I've done nothing for you. We are on the brink of massive online sales with a correlating PR campaign on two continents and here you are patronizing me and telling me I've done nothing.'
'Text me when you're awake and we will talk,' he added.
Alahverdian also claimed to have two dogs, which he would use an excuse when she asked him to show his work, blaming a hospitalized dog for failing to deliver
Antypas sent Alahverdian a text in late April, tell him she needed to see his work in order to keep paying him
He shot back at her, accusing her of being 'patronizing' and claiming to be on the 'brink of massive sales'
The next day, he texted her again and threatened to set the libelous sites live if she didn't respond within 'one hour and 17 minutes' to settlement negotiations, text messages show.
He later set the libelous websites claiming she was a fraud live, leaving her to hire a firm to restore her online reputation as she received a letter claiming to be from Alahverdian's lawyer, again demanding $73,000 to fill out a year's salary.
Her lawyers retorted that he actually owed her money to reimburse her for the money she spent restoring her reputation. They never received a response from Alahverdian or his alleged legal team, Antypas said.
In July of that year, she hired a private investigator to dig up information on Alahverdian but - armed with the wrong name and inaccurate background information - the investigator
