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<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#5a5253"><strong>William Rich, 41, has been accused of obtaining $1million after pretending to be paraplegic following a bomb blast in Iraq in 2005 </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#5a5253"><strong>He reportedly was given $800,000 from the VA, in addition to $240,000 from social security and disability </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#5a5253"><strong>Awarded a monthly compensation for paraplegia and grants for adaptive vehicles and housing, instead Rich allegedly used the benefits to purchase a luxury BMW sports coupe y </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#5a5253"><strong>Rich served in the military from 1998 to 2007 and was deployed in Baqubah when he sustain a bomb blast injury </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#5a5253"><strong>His medical reports from 2005 and 2006 reported that he was not paralyzed and could do daily activities without assistance He posted </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#5a5253"><strong>The disabled vet was caught doing daily activities without assistance, only using a wheelchair during VA medical appointments, and uploading gym selfies to his public social media accounts, </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#5a5253"><strong>Over two years, special agents conducting surveillance, allegedly observed Rich &#8216;walking, going up and down stairs, entering and exiting vehicles, lifting, bending, and carrying items&#8217; without assistance or a wheelchair</strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#5a5253"><strong>In 2007, he was granted full disability by a doctor who did not order x-ray or review his full medical report </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#5a5253"><strong>Rich faces a maximum of 30 years in prison for wire fraud and theft of government property</strong></h2>



<p><br></p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-full"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/William-Rich-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-394914"/><figcaption><strong>Army vet William Rich, is accused of faking paraplegia since 2007. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted </strong></figcaption></figure></div>



<p>An army veteran from the Baltimore suburbs is accused of obtaining more than $1million in benefits by pretending to be paraplegic after being caught posting gym selfies and being seen walking around without assistance by investigators. <br>William Rich, 41, of Windsor Mill in Maryland, is being accused of faking paraplegia since 2007 after sustaining an injury after a bomb blast in Iraq in 2005, according to court documents that were unsealed last month. <br>Rich, who served in the military from 1998 to 2007, was injured on August 23, 2005 while serving in Baqubah. <br>By 2007, the VA rated Rich one hundred per cent disabled due to &#8216;loss of the use of both lower extremities&#8217; without ordering x-rays and reviewing previous medical documents. <br>After he was caught doing daily activities without assistance, only using a wheelchair during VA medical appointments, and uploading gym selfies to his public social media accounts, including one with the caption &#8216;lol lift or leave&#8217; after the VA Inspector General&#8217;s Office launched an investigation in 2018. <br>The army veteran allegedly received $800,000 in VA benefits and an additional $240,000 in social security and disability, the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/maryland-united-states-army-veteran-facing-federal-charges-falsely-claiming-be-paraplegic">District of Maryland&#8217;s Attorney&#8217;s Office</a> said. <br>He was also awarded a monthly compensation for paraplegia and received grants for adaptive vehicles and housing. Instead, Rich allegedly used benefits to purchase a luxury BMW sports coupe. <br>The two-door car &#8216;is not readily adaptable to the use of a paraplegic person,&#8217; special agent Brian Maddox of the VA IG office said in the affidavit. <br>Rich later totaled the car, but investigators inspected his other vehicles and his home and did not find it to be equipped with modifications for a paraplegic, according to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2021-10-20/army-veteran-iraq-blast-fake-paralysis-veterans-affairs-investigators-3309227.html">Stars and Stripes</a>. <br>Over two years, special agents conducted surveillance and allegedly observed Rich &#8216;walking, going up and down stairs, entering and exiting vehicles, lifting, bending, and carrying items&#8217; without assistance or a wheelchair, court documents stated. <br>Agents reported the only time they observed Rich in a wheelchair was during VA medical appointment and saw on five occasions the 41-year-old loading his wheelchair into his car before or after his appointments between March 2019 and February 2021.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/William-Rich-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-394917" width="836" height="888"/><figcaption><strong> Rich allegedly posted several photos and videos to his social media accounts showing him at the gym. In one, he captioned the post &#8216;lol lift or leave.&#8217; </strong></figcaption></figure>



<p>He was caught posting photos and videos of himself at the gym on his public social media accounts as well. <br>The criminal complaint alleged that Rich had made &#8216;substantial progress toward recovery&#8217; around the six-week mark after sustaining his injuries in 2005 and was &#8216;no longer paralyzed,&#8217; court documents stated. <br>His medical report dated October 7, 2005, revealed that an MRI on August 24, 2005 &#8211; the day after his injury &#8211; that Rich had &#8216;no [spinal] cord impingement&#8217; or &#8216;[spinal] cord abnormalities&#8217; and that his &#8216;paralysis has resolved somewhat and at present he is able to move his lower extremities.&#8217; <br>Over a year later, in December 2006, his report indicated he could perform daily tasks with &#8216;complete independence&#8217; or &#8216;modified independence,&#8217; such as using the restroom. <br>Two years after the incident, in October 2007, his medical report suddenly stated he was &#8216;paralyzed in both lower extremities&#8217; and was &#8216;confined to a wheelchair.&#8217; <br>The physician who documented the report noted he did not order an x-ray and did not review Rich&#8217;s medical history before the exam due to not his inability to access the veteran&#8217;s compete file. <br>The doctor also stated that he did not order an x-ray because he &#8216;did not feel that it was worth the trauma to him of manipulating [Rich] around.&#8217; <br>The amount of disability coverage a veteran receives is equivalent to their service-connected disability rating. Soldiers receive their rating through the VA and it is based on the &#8216;severity&#8217; of an individual&#8217;s service disability and how much it &#8216;decreases overall health and ability to function.&#8217; <br>Rich faces a maximum of 30 years in prison for wire fraud and theft of government property. <br>He was granted release pending trial on October 13, 2021 following an appearance in the US District Court in Baltimore. </p>

‘Paraplegic’ army vet, 41, accused of ‘scamming more than $1m in benefits by pretending to be crippled’ is caught out by gym selfie
