A 49-year-old veteran has admitted to faking his need for a wheelchair for twenty years to claim more than $660,000 in benefits he was not entitled to.
Christopher Stultz, 49, of New Hampshire, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court on Thursday to one count of making false statements to the Department of Veterans Affairs. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 6.
Stultz apparently went along with the scam while he was employed at Antrim Elementary School. According to the school’s website, he worked as a kindergarten teacher, and before that, a library media specialist.
When DailyMail.com reached out to the elementary school, a person in the main office said they could ‘not comment,’ but revealed that he ‘no longer works at the school.’
On his social media page, Stultz is pictured sans wheelchair while participating in several activities with his former students. In one photo, he is seen ‘standing’ straight while dressed in a costume. In another photo, he is seen sitting with his students during storytime.
According to the U.S. Attorney´s Office, Stultz claimed in early 2003 that he could no longer use his feet. His claim prompted the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to rate him as 100 percent disabled, and increase his monthly benefits, according to the Associated Press.
Pictured: Christopher Stultz, 49, a veteran has admitted to faking his need for a wheelchair for twenty years to claim more than $660,000 in benefits he was not entitled to
Stultz sitting in a chair while reading a book to his students during storytime
Stultz appears to be standing next to one of his students while dressed in a funny costume
The attorney’s office also cited that Stultz was given money to buy and adapt special cars.
Between January 2003 through December 2022, Stultz received a total of $662,871.77 in VA benefits he wasn’t entitled to, the statement noted, according to court documents obtained by DailyMail.com.
According to the plea deal, Stultz faces up to 18-months in prision and is ordered to pay back the $662,871.77 he had taken fraudulently.
Stultz’s deception was revealed when law enforcement officers ‘surveilled him on multiple occasions’ walking normally, and without the use of his wheelchair.
In 2021, Stultz used a wheelchair while inside a VA medical center in Boston, but after leaving the facility, he stood up and lifted the wheelchair into his car.
He then drove to a mall and walked around various stores, prosecutors said.
A year later, Stultz repeated the same actions when leaving a Manchester VA medical center, driving to the mall and walking around, as per documents.
Stultz standing in his classroom dressed up in a costume with his students nearby
Stultz seen standing outside next to two people performing some type of skit
According to the plea agreement, Stultz ‘admitted that he could use both of his feet and that he knew it was wrong for him to collect extra benefits,’ when he was confronted by law enforcement about his mobility.
‘He also admitted that he did not need the VA-funded vehicles with the special adaptations and that he had sold those vehicles.’
Prosecutors said that several people who knew Stultz – going back to the early 2000s – said they had never known him to need a wheelchair or other ambulatory device for mobility.