Providence Man Indicted for Making False Statements to Gain Veteran Benefits

PROVIDENCE – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging a Providence man with two counts of making false statements in an alleged scheme to obtain veterans’ disability compensation and health care benefits that he is not entitled to receive, announced Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.

Court documents reflect the following allegations:

• Nicholas M. Ash, 39, fraudulently claimed to a Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center doctor that he was had been on a combat deployment to Iraq/the Middle East and was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as the result of a blast from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) during his deployment that  caused him to suffer from seizures.
• Defense Department records indicate that Ash did not serve on such a combat deployment in the Middle East.  These records indicate that Ash served in the U.S. Army from July 2005 to September 2007, but was never stationed outside of the United States. The records show that following completion of basic training in Oklahoma, Ash was assigned to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, where he served as a motor transport operator. While stationed in Hawaii, Ash was hospitalized for an unrelated medical matter and placed on non-deployable status (not medically fit to deploy on any military operation).
• When confronted about his claims, Ash then claimed that his injury occurred after he was discharged from the Army as the result of an IED blast he experienced while employed overseas as a private military contractor. Court records reflect that investigators allegedly could find no record Ash ever worked for the private contractor.  

A federal indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Ash is scheduled to be arraigned on May 20, 2025.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ronald R. Gendron.

The matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, with valuable assistance from the Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Services; and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Police Service.

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