Ex-Premier League Player Jailed Over £15m Fraud

After defrauding his friends and family of £15 million, former Premier League player, Richard Rufus has received a prison term.

A former defender for Charlton Athletic, Richard Rufus, received a sentence of seven and a half years for deceiving clients into investing in his “low-risk” scheme by posing as an experienced FX trader.

The 47-year-old was found guilty on Thursday at Southwark Crown Court of fraud, money laundering, and engaging in a regulated industry without a license.

Rufus made false claims that he had made millions of pounds for a church and helped other footballers or ex-footballers succeed.

Rufus played 288 league games for Charlton from 1993 to 2004. Additionally, he made six appearances for England’s Under-21 squad.

CPS’s Roger Makanjuola said: “Rufus acted in a selfish manner without any 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 successful with his investment strategies previously, but the investments were fraught with risk and he lost his victims’ much needed money to the amount 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.”