Justice Ministry officials said last night that Oded Golan would be indicted next week on a range of charges that would include forgery over an inscription on the stone container that carried the script in Aramaic reading: “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus”.

Six others are also to be charged.

The discovery of the ossuary in October 2002 was hailed as one of the great archaeological discoveries of the age as it demonstrated a physical connection between the modern world and the Bible.

But suspicions were raised after experts were not given sufficient time to examine the ossuary properly before it was put on public display.

Closer inspection of the 50cm (20in) by 27cm (11in) container showed that the first section of the inscription was straight while the second section, “brother of Jesus”, was crooked.

Israel’s Antiquities Authority has concluded that the markings on the burial box, which dates from about 2,000 years ago when they were common, was an elaborate hoax. Part of the carving cut through the patina.

A documentary broadcast on Israeli television this year described Mr Golan as a talented confidence trickster who made millions of pounds selling forged antiquities to gullible buyers around the world.

Yoni Pagis, the deputy head of the Jerusalem fraud squad, told the film-makers that the fraud involved “dozens of items (produced) in co-operation with a number of people over a period of many years. It’s a real Pandora’s box. The scale is huge.”

Mr Golan declined to comment but said he would discuss the issue later. He has previously denied having any connection with forgeries.

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