A sex-offending fugitive has launched a desperate fundraising bid to help him stay in Scotland under a fake identity.
Nicholas Rossi’s begging letter on an online site asked unsuspecting members of the public for £25,000 to fight his extradition to America on rape charges.
The US citizen – also known as Nicholas Alahverdian – faked his own death in Rhode Island in February 2020 before fleeing to the UK where he was caught hiding in Glasgow.
Conman Rossi, 34, and his wife Miranda Knight, created the Gofundme page which claims he’s the victim of a conspiracy by the US legal system.
In it, Miranda states: “All donations will go to a good cause and it will help us fight this injustice that has been spread that my husband is a fugitive when he has everything one has as a British/Irish citizen. Please help us as much as you can.”
The pair said the money was to pay for Rossi’s solicitor and a QC for his extradition case, which will be heard later this month.
In the appeal, Rossi also claimed to have “no money or savings” despite being accused of conning a Canadian TV host and producer out of $40,000.
The fundraising page was taken down from Gofundme after they learned about Rossi’s true identity.
A Gofundme spokesman said: “This campaign has been removed for violating our terms of service.”
Rossi is facing claims he raped a 21-year-old in Orem, Utah, in 2008.
He created multiple false names including his current – Arthur Knight – using a fake English accent and describing himself as an Irish born orphan who’s never been abroad.
He was caught by police at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in December last year where he was being treated for Covid-19.
Rossi, who has made several court appearances in a wheelchair as he fights extradition to the US, has claimed Covid has made him seriously ill and he has to use an oxygen tank.
In 2008 Nicholas was convicted of attacking a student at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio.
He was fined and put on the sex offenders’ register.
