Army vet, 41, accused of obtaining more than $1million in benefits by PRETENDING to be paraplegic

An army veteran 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. 

William Rich, 41, of Windsor Mill, Maryland, near Baltimore, 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. 

Rich, who served in the military from 1998 to 2007, was injured on August 23, 2005 while serving in Baqubah. 

By 2007, the VA rated Rich one hundred per cent disabled due to ‘loss of the use of both lower extremities’ without ordering x-rays and reviewing previous medical documents. 

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 ‘lol lift or leave’ after the VA Inspector General’s Office launched an investigation in 2018. 

The army veteran allegedly received $800,000 in VA benefits and an additional $240,000 in social security and disability, the District of Maryland’s Attorney’s Office said. 

He was also awarded a monthly compensation for paraplegia and received grants for adaptive vehicles and housing, which he used to purchase a luxury BMW sports coupe. 

Rich allegedly posted several photos and videos to his social media accounts showing him at the gym. In one, he captioned the post ‘lol lift or leave.’ The army veteran now faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted and has been released pending trial after appearing in a Baltimore District Court last month 

The two-door car ‘is not readily adaptable to the use of a paraplegic person,’ special agent Brian Maddox of the VA IG office said in the affidavit. 

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 Stars and Stripes. 

Over two years, special agents conducted surveillance and allegedly observed Rich ‘walking, going up and down stairs, entering and exiting vehicles, lifting, bending, and carrying items’ without assistance or a wheelchair, court documents stated. 

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. 

He was caught posting photos and videos of himself at the gym on his public social media accounts as well.  

The criminal complaint alleged that Rich had made ‘substantial progress toward recovery’ around the six-week mark after sustaining his injuries in 2005 and was ‘no longer paralyzed,’ court documents stated. 

His medical report dated October 7, 2005, revealed that an MRI on August 24, 2005 – the day after his injury – that Rich had ‘no [spinal] cord impingement’ or ‘[spinal] cord abnormalities’ and that his ‘paralysis has resolved somewhat and at present he is able to move his lower extremities.’ 

Over a year later, in December 2006, his report indicated he could perform daily tasks with ‘complete independence’ or ‘modified independence,’ such as using the restroom. 

Two years after the incident, in October 2007, his medical report suddenly stated he was ‘paralyzed in both lower extremities’ and was ‘confined to a wheelchair.’   

The physician who documented the report noted he did not order an x-ray and did not review Rich’s medical history before the exam due to not his inability to access the veteran’s compete file. 

The doctor also stated that he did not order an x-ray because he ‘did not feel that it was worth the trauma to him of manipulating [Rich] around.’ 

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 ‘severity’ of an individual’s service disability and how much it ‘decreases overall health and ability to function.’ 

Rich faces a maximum of 30 years in prison for wire fraud and theft of government property. 

He was granted release pending trial on October 13, 2021 following an appearance in the US District Court in Baltimore. 

DailyMail.com contacted Rich’s public defender James Wyda for comment.