Fakes accused pair clash in court

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Two business partners accused of forging and selling sports stars' signatures through a shop in Cheshire turned on each other in court.

Faisal Madani, 43, of Grange Road, Bramhall, and Graeme Walker, 45, of Connah's Quay, Flintshire, deny charges under the Trades Descriptions Act.

Mr Walker's barrister told a jury at Chester Crown Court that Mr Madani was guilty of an "outrageous fraud".

But Mr Madani's barrister insisted he had not supplied the bogus signatures.

The men are accused of supplying allegedly faked autographs of sports stars including Pele, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard on sports memorabilia at Mr Walker's Sporting Icons store in Chester.

Signatures of stars such as Jonny Wilkinson are alleged to be faked

Mr Walker's barrister, Paul Lawton, told the court that since 1996, during a meeting with a Coutts bank manager, Mr Madani had been passing himself off as the brother of ex-Manchester United director Armer Mouffac Al Midani.

He said Mr Madani had "duped" his client by providing false merchandise in the form of shirts, photographs and other items.

He added there were signs Mr Madani was providing fake memorabilia before he met Mr Walker in 2003.

Mr Lawton said Mr Walker had no reason to suspect Mr Madani, as he was friends with a "roll call" of famous names such as ex-Manchester United players Bryan Robson, Paddy Crerand and Mickey Thomas.

'Hiding something'

Known to footballers as Faz, Mr Lawton told the court that Mr Madani could walk into football grounds around the country, and be met by figures such as Sir Alex Ferguson, Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney.

Also known as Mr Dubai, he attended England captain John Terry's wedding last year, where the pair were pictured in celebrity magazine OK.

Mr Madani has decided not to give evidence in court.

But his barrister, Peter Davies, instructed the jury to ignore the "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" innuendo employed by the prosecution and Mr Lawton to suggest his client was hiding something.

He said Mr Walker, who has a previous conviction under trademark laws, was trying to "saddle" Mr Madani with the blame.

He added that although Mr Madani had admitted the "untruth" about being related to Mr Al Midani, he had genuine relationships with many footballers.

The judge, David Hale, will continue his summing up on Wednesday before the jury retire to consider their verdicts.