British Airways and American Express in cahoots to rip us off?

Ok here's the scenario. Please vote above if these 2 companies were right. I had a fiancee' visa to visit the UK to marry my current wife. My visa expired on Jan 27th and all you have to do is file before it expires for an extension. I decided to go visit the US and was planning to renew my visa when I got back on Jan 23. My British Airways flight on Jan 22 was canceled due to weather. Since I was being rescheduled, I decided to stay another week. I flew back on Jan 28 forgetting that my visa expired on Jan 27. UK immigration made me fly home after letting me see my family for 24 hours. When getting to the airport, British Airways let me on the flight without requiring any payment. When I got off the flight in Phoenix, a British Airways manager detained me and demanded that I sign a 1450.00 dollar credit card receipt to my British wife's American Express card. I refused. It's important to note here that I NEVER used this card. I used airline miles to purchase the original flight. However Veronica (my wife) did use the card to purchase her flight to and from the US.

The next week we saw a 1450.00 charge on her American Express bill. We disputed it with the credit card company stating that we never authorized the charge. American Express denied the dispute stating that they have an agreement with British Airways. My question is, is it right for British Airways to make an unauthorized charge to my wife's credit card to pay for my return flight? Is it right for American Express to charge my wife for a flight when said credit card was never presented to British Airways for a flight in my name?