A former Premier League star has been jailed after defrauding his family and friends members out of £15m.
Ex-Charlton Athletic participant Richard Rufus was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years after he claimed to be a profitable international trade dealer and satisfied victims to put money into his “low-risk” scheme.
The 47-year-old was discovered responsible of fraud, cash laundering and finishing up a regulated exercise with out authorisation at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday.
The CPS prosecution and the City of London police investigation discovered he satisfied his victims their funding would see returns of 60% a 12 months.
Rufus used a number of the £15 million invested to pay again traders in a pyramid-style scheme – utilizing funds from newer traders to pay again older ones – however used the remaining to keep up a way of life of an elite skilled footballer.
He falsely claimed to have made multi-million pound returns for a church and good returns for different footballers or ex-footballers, for whom he had invested funds however who he couldn’t determine for confidentiality causes.
The defender was pressured into retirement in 2004 following a knee harm however continued to stay in a five-bedroom home on a personal property in Purley, South London, drive a Bentley and put on a Rolex watch.
‘Rufus acted with none concern for his victims’
Roger Makanjuola of the CPS mentioned: “Rufus acted in a egocentric method with none concern for his victims.
“He took advantage of his status as a professional athlete, a respected church member and he used the goodwill of his family and friends to scam them and associates out of millions of pounds by falsely claiming he was able to offer a low-risk investment in the Foreign Exchange Market.
“He claimed that he had been profitable along with his funding methods beforehand, however the investments had been fraught with danger and he misplaced his victims’ a lot wanted cash to the quantity of £15million.
“While making these huge losses he put approximately £2million into his personal accounts, allegedly for the purposes of investment but this was never transferred over to his trading account.
“We now begin confiscation proceedings to hunt to recuperate his ill-gotten beneficial properties”
Source: information.sky.com”