Nicholas Rossi: Scottish ministers sign extradition order for rape suspect which will see him return to US

The extradition order which will see rape suspect Nicholas Rossi returned to the United States has been signed, the Scottish Government has confirmed.

Rossi is wanted by authorities in the US after allegedly raping a woman in Utah in 2008. He has also been accused of multiple counts of domestic violence in Rhode Island.

He is believed to have faked his own death to avoid prosecution in the States, having turned up at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow in December 2021 after being admitted for Covid-19 treatment.

Upon his arrest, Rossi, who also went by the name of Nicholas Alahverdian, claimed that he was not the man in question, instead giving his name upon admittance to the hospital as 'Arthur Knight'. He had told authorities that he was an Irish orphan and has been seen to use a wheelchair and an oxygen tank, although medical experts disproved his claims of poor health and mobility telling the court that his legs are "strong and athletic".

In August, Sheriff Norman McFadyen at Edinburgh Sheriff Court ruled that there is no legal impediment to Rossi being extradited back to the US. He also described Rossi "as dishonest and deceitful as he is evasive and manipulative”.

The Scottish Government confirmed that the extradition process is now underway in a Freedom of Information response. It said: “The Scottish ministers have made their decision regarding Mr Nicholas Rossi and signed an extradition order on September 28, 2023.”