A US fugitive who allegedly faked his own death to escape rape charges in the state of Utah has been extradited from Scotland, police said.
Nicholas Rossi was first detained in 2021 after checking himself into a hospital in the Scottish city of Glasgow with Covid-19, where he was served an Interpol notice.
The 36-year-old had claimed he had been the victim of mistaken identity - telling courts he is an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight.
But a judge ruled he is Nicholas Rossi, and Scottish ministers signed an extradition order last September.
The UK government signed off on his removal back to the United States last week after a Scottish court approved his extradition in August.
Scottish police confirmed that it had helped "partner agencies with the extradition of a 36-year-old man" to Edinburgh Airport, where he was extradited to the US on a private flight.
Mr Rossi had previously lodged an appeal against the extradition order, which was heard in Edinburgh in December.
However, appeal judges said in a written ruling on 14 December that there was "no merit" in any of Mr Rossi's arguments.
Medical staff and police were able to identify him by comparing his tattoos with pictures of Mr Rossi on the wanted notice and fingerprints.
Mr Rossi claimed he had been tattooed while comatose in hospital and that his fingerprints had been meddled with.
He claimed to suffer from various psychiatric ailments when appearing by video link at Edinburgh Sheriff Court during his extradition case in August.
The judge concluded:: "He is as dishonest and deceitful as he is evasive and manipulative" and approved his extradition.
