A man who has been pretending to be an urbane English gentleman is an American fugitive accused of faking his own death in an effort to escape justice, facial recognition experts believe.

Proceedings are under way to extradite Nicholas Rossi to the United States, where he faces allegations of rape and fraud, although he claims that he is called Arthur Knight, has no passport or identity documents, and has never left the British Isles.

This week, he invited The Telegraph to the Glasgow home he shares with his wife Miranda, claiming he would be able to prove he was a different person to Rossi, also known as Nicholas Alahverdian, whom it was claimed died of cancer in February 2020.

However, there were glaring inconsistencies in the story the 34-year-old set out, and he continued to defend Rossi despite claiming he had no connection to him or knowing whether he was alive or dead.

Nurses in Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth hospital, where he was admitted with a serious case of Covid-19, are understood to have identified him by tattoos on his arms, leading to his arrest in December.

He posed for photographs at his home, wearing a perspex face mask which he claims is needed due to the effects of coronavirus, although he refused to reveal his arms.