Richard Rufus jailed
This such a sad tale.
Ex-Addicks defender Richard Rufus has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years at Southwark Crown Court for fraud and money laundering. (more)
I used to adore Richard Rufus. He was a hero of mine and to many Addicks. He was the young gangly kid from Lewisham that came through the youth team and then became the backbone of our heady days in the Premier League. He mixed it with all of the big named star strikers who could never do him for pace or speed of thought.
That goal at Wembley still sends shivers down the spine. I remember vividly looking at my Mum sat just down from me as Charlton fans went crazy all around us both thinking ‘was that really Rufus that scored that?’
That was not a game for the feint-hearted, and Rufus’ first ever goal in 5 years took it’s place in the long list of fairy tale headlines that the game produced.
Rufus played over 300 games and only played for Charlton. How he never got an England cap is beyond me. His career ended with continuous knee injuries at just 29.
These crimes go back as far as 2005, at about the time he was voted as Charlton’s best ever defender.
Rufus fooled and tricked his family, his friends allegedly including Paul Elliott, as well as his church. Family, friends and associates ‘invested’ more than £15m in a foreign currency exchange scam that Rufus had fraudulently set up.
The City of London police said that “as a result of the scheme – which ran from May 2007 to the end of 2010 – relationships and loyalties between friends had been shattered, with many suffering huge financial and mental health difficulties.”
Rufus’ crimes took a long time to investigate, after a 4-week trial he was today found guilty of four counts of fraud by false representation, money laundering and one count of carrying out a regulated activity without authorisation.
He had pleaded not guilty to all the charges, which I suspect had something to do with his sentence. He will be expected to serve at least half that time inside.
Chicago Addick 
I’m baffled, especially because of his faith. Whatever he has done, he is now paying the price and should be forgiven when his sentence has been completed.
If he had pleaded guilty prior to the trial his sentence would have been drastically reduced, probably by around 20% which is the usual amount set out in criminal sentencing guidelines. Even if he had changed his plea during the court case he would have been eligible for a 10% reduction.
I followed the trial and while media reports are never wholly reliable the evidence against him looked extremely solid, the best advice would have been to plead guilty and get a lower sentence. Maybe he knew he was going down so he thought he’d fight the charges on the off-chance that he might somehow get away with it., who knows.
But what a player, I can remember a tackle against a Spurs player at WHL that was so well timed that even though the player he tackled went flying he won the ball cleanly. Or another one against a Man City attacker at the Valley, his first touch trapped the ball, the second took it away and with his third he was scarpering up the pitch leaving an international forward literally kicking at thin air. And then there was that goal at Wembley, when he scored I was caught between celebrating the goal and amazement that Rufus had finally broken his duck in the biggest game he had played in. Until then his lack of goal scoring while being a regular player was a bit of a conundrum. He was a good header of the ball – as he proved at Wembley so why did he never get on the end of a corner?
Also why didn’t he play internationally? SGE was England manager when he was at his peak and he preferred John Terry and Rio Ferdinand. Then again there were rumours that Rufus had a few connections to people who other managers didn’t want around their players, that was said to be one of the reasons why despite occasional interest from other clubs he stayed at Charlton.
Interesting last paragraph SL. Thanks.
“… and should be forgiven when his sentence has been completed”.
Try telling that to his victims.
There are shysters and scammers everywhere – Southall springs immediately to mind, but to do it to family and friends………