Former Premier League Defender Jailed for Fraud and Money Laundering

• Former Premier League player Richard Rufus has been jailed for fraud and money laundering
• The defender who spent all his career at Charlton pretended to be an investor and duped family and friends
• He was forced to retire in 2004 after a recurring case of knee injuries and has been involved in illegal activities since then

When footballers retire, they go into a lot of activities, some stay in the spotlight and others behind the scenes, either for the good or for the bad.

Some footballers after retirement spend their career earnings into schemes that send them bankrupt while others engage in dubious activities to maintain the life of affluence, they built during their playing career.

Former Premier League star Richard Rufus did the latter, engaging in fraudulent investment schemes to sustain his lavish lifestyle since a knee injury forced him to retire in 2004.

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Ex player jailed for fraud

Richard Rufus spent all his career at Charlton Athletic and used his status of ex-footballer to deceive people into believing he is a successful investor worthy of investing their funds with, as reported by BBC Sports.

As reported by the Guardian, the proceeds from the illegal activities amounted to a whopping £15m, out of which he repaid £7m to the pyramid scheme investors and used about £2m for self-service to maintain his own lifestyle.

''The victims of this fraud are haunted by your actions. The people who invested did so in good faith, they believed your spiel because they thought you were the real deal. You were robbing Peter to pay Paul. You were living a lie at the expense of others.'' the judge said, as quoted by the Sun.

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He has now been sentenced to seven and half years in prison, half of which he will spend in detention before he will be released on license.

Nigerian athletes jailed for fraud

In another news, Sports Brief reported that two Nigerian athletes were jailed for fraud in the US. They were remanded in custody with their sentencing expected to be done on February 23, 2023.

Emmanuel Ineh and Toluwani Adebakin are roommates at William Carey University and made fortunes from dating scams and obtaining money under false pretence.

Ineh is a long and triple jumper while Adebakin is a 200m and 400m runner, both have pleaded guilty to the crimes and also pleaded for mercy in their sentence.