Former Charlton Athletic defender Richard Rufus was found guilty on December 21, 2022, of fraud, money laundering, and carrying out a regulated activity without authorisation and was issued his sentence on Thursday.
Rufus, who is 48 years old, had a wonderful career with Charlton where he made more than 250 appearances at his prime.
The Southwark Crown Court found him guilty after a series of trials despite Rufus denying the allegations earlier on.
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It has also been reported that former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand invested in Rufus' scheme only to lose his cash in a pyramid scheme.
Rufus has been living a lavish lifestyle and one of the prosecutors in his case said that the ex-Premier League managed to maintain his status in society by spending what some of the clients were investing in his accounts.
As it stands, Charlton is in the process of terminating his ambassadorial contract to avoid soiling the club's name.
It is so sad to see a legend like Rufus going down quickly after many years of hard work in the Premier League to build his own brand.
Rufus is not the first footballer to be involved in a fraud case since the same happened to PSG star Neymar Jr when he moved to Barcelona.
The only difference between the two players is that Neymar was cleared of wrongdoing following a complaint by a company that claimed to own 40 percent of his rights.
Richard's story should be a lesson to footballers or anyone who wants to get involved in fraudulent activities to earn a living. Hard work pays. There is no easy way to make money.