A Maine man accused of stealing more than $244,000 in disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs faked his drowning death after authorities confronted him about the fraud, according to federal officials and court filings.
Gregory P. Heimann Jr., 51, told the VA in 2023 that he had used a wheelchair since 2004 and could not walk or stand, federal prosecutors said.
But that was not the case, according to prosecutors.
When Heimann was interviewed in February 2024, a federal agent with the VA’s Office of Inspector General revealed there was evidence showing Heimann “walking, driving, fighting, and shopping,” according to an affidavit written by the agent.
Two months later, Heimann left his Forest City Township home by the Canadian border, headed to a nearby river and vanished on April 19, 2024, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Investigators initially thought Heimann drowned, leading to a dayslong search, the agency said in an Aug. 25 news release. Ten days after his disappearance, the VA’s Office of Inspector General issued a warrant for his arrest.
“After further investigation, though it was made to look like a possible drowning, it was determined that Heimann was in fact not deceased and his disappearance was ruled suspicious,” the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Investigators continued to search for Heimann, leading to his discovery and arrest at an Amtrak train station in La Plata, Missouri, about a 165-mile drive northeast from Kansas City, on Aug. 21, the agency announced.
Heimann will be returned to Maine, where he will face a charge of making false statements to the government, following his indictment in October 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine said in an Aug. 25 news release.
His court-appointed federal public defender did not return McClatchy News’ request for comment on Aug. 26.
Heimann served in the U.S. Army from November 1993 through January 1997, according to court documents. Then, he served in the U.S. Army National Guard from April 1997 through May 2005.
He first tried to claim disability benefits when he was enlisted in the Army, in 1996, but his claims for “deafness, a knee disorder, and a back injury,” were denied, the affidavit says.
The VA, however, did grant “his claim for a finger chip fracture with a 0% disability rating,” the agent wrote in the filing.
In 2004, Heimann renewed his benefits claims in connection with his back, tinnitus and his knees, according to the affidavit. Following this, the VA rated him as 40% disabled in 2005, the affidavit says.
In 2006, the VA found “Heimann was entitled to a special monthly compensation based on the loss of use of his left foot” and that “he was entitled to automobile and adaptive equipment,” the agent wrote in the affidavit.
Heimann claimed to the VA in 2008 that he could not work and had a different medical condition, according to the filing, which says a doctor then considered him a paraplegic after a medical exam and that he needed a wheelchair.
By 2009, the VA considered him as 100% disabled in relation to his military service, the affidavit says.
“Since January 2016, the VA has paid approximately $244,075 in disability benefits to Heimann based solely on the loss of use of both feet,” the filing continues.
‘Recorded walking and standing’
Though he was considered fully disabled, evidence of Heimann being active over the years proved otherwise, the affidavit shows.
“Heimann was documented and recorded walking and standing without the assistance of any mobility devices on numerous occasions in Maine,” prosecutors said, citing the affidavit.
Heimann was also involved in two physical fights in Washington State, where he previously lived, in the summer of 2019, according to the filing.
Authorities in Washington responded to both fights, which were caught on surveillance cameras.
During the second incident, in July 2019, Heimann was seen pushing and punching a neighbor, according to the affidavit.
Several images of Heimann without a wheelchair in Maine, from 2022 through 2023, are also included in the filing.
When he was interviewed by agents in February 2024, Heimann was in his wheelchair, according to the affidavit.
He “ultimately admitted that his condition began to improve” after agents revealed they had evidence of him walking, the filing says.
Then, two months later, Heimann took “a canoe with his belongings” to the river close to the U.S.- Canada border and disappeared, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
He remained a fugitive for more than a year, until his arrest in Missouri, the agency said.
Heimann “initially gave a false name” but was “then positively identified,” according to officials.
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