A former Premier League player was sentenced to prison for scamming friends and family of £15 million.
The
former Charlton Athletic player persuaded his victims to participate in his
plan by claiming to be a skilled foreign exchange broker.
A
former Premier League player who stole £15 million from his friends and family
was sentenced to prison.
Richard
Rufus, a former player for Charlton Athletic, was given a sentence of seven and
a half years after luring investors into his "low-risk" plan by
claiming to be a skilled foreign exchange trader.
Found Guilty
The
47-year-old was convicted guilty of fraud, money laundering, and engaging in a
regulated business on Thursday at Southwark Crown Court.
According
to the authorities, he persuaded his victims that their investment would yield
returns of 60% annually.
Rufus
used a portion of the £15 million invested to repay investors in a
pyramid-style system, which involved collecting money from younger investors to
repay older ones, while utilising the remaining sum to support his elite
professional footballer lifestyle.
He
made untrue claims that he had generated multi-million pound profits for a
church and successful returns for other footballers or ex-players for whom he
had invested money but could not identify due to confidentiality issues.
The
defender was forced to retire in 2004 due to a knee injury, but he kept his
Bentley and Rolex watch, as well as his five-bedroom home on a gated estate in
Purley, south London.
"Risky investments"
The
Crown Prosecution Service's Roger Makanjuola stated: "Rufus acted
selfishly without regard for his victims."
He
defrauded his family, friends, and associates of millions of pounds by making
false claims that he could provide a low-risk investment in the foreign
exchange market, taking advantage of his position as a respected church member
and professional athlete.
He
insisted that his prior investing ideas had been successful, but the bets were
risky, and he ended up losing his victims' £15 million in much needed funds.
We
now launch confiscation procedures to try to retrieve his ill-gotten riches.
"While making these massive losses, he put about £2 million into his
personal accounts, ostensibly for the purpose of investing, but money was never
transferred to his trading account.