The 2022 Qatar World Cup is in full swing, with 47-year-old former Charlton Athletic defender Richard Rufus being sued by the court for alleged CFD investment fraud, involving £ 15 million in funds.

One of the investors is 58 year old former Charlton and Chelsea defender Paul Elliott, who met Rufus while Elliott was a member of Charlton's board of directors.

Between October 2008 and February 2011, Elliott paid a total of 425000 pounds to Rufus and recovered 460000 pounds.

Prosecutor Lucy Ogen stated that these returns do not come from successful transactions, but rather to lure more people into investing.

The victim Ronabir Deb was informed by Rufus that some of his teammates and friends, including television commentator Ferdinand, are also investing with him.

However, Mr. Ronabir Deb lost £ 47000 in capital, while the 23 people who invested through him lost over £ 1.7 million.

It is reported that Rufus claimed to be a successful CFD trader who was poached by some of the largest financial institutions in the UK, including Morgan Stanley, Coutts Bank, and Barclays Bank.

Rufus told investors that current and former players, including 44 year old former England and Manchester United defender Ferdinand, have joined. Ferdinand is a former Premier League superstar who has represented the English men's football team 81 times, scoring 3 goals, and participating in three World Cups.

After joining the club in 1993, Rufus made 288 appearances for Charlton. It is said that he will invest some of the £ 15 million in pyramid schemes to repay investors, while the rest will be used for his own personal desires.

Augen said that Rufus was forced to retire in 2004 due to a knee injury, but he was able to "maintain the lifestyle of a football player" for a long time afterwards.

He lives in a large five bedroom private house in Purley, south London, driving a Bentley and wearing a Rolex watch.

The court also learned that Rufus has a monthly rental income of £ 850, but he also has to pay a total of £ 1.5 million in "personal" expenses, including a monthly mortgage of £ 9000, £ 2 million in car expenses, and funds transferred to his wife's bank account.

The only way Richard Rufus can maintain his lifestyle is to use the funds he receives from investors, "prosecutor Ogen said.

According to reports, he promised investors a 60% annual return, but ultimately lost all of his money.

Ogen said, "He (Rufus) pretended to be able to provide low-risk investments in the foreign exchange market and scammed his friends, family, and colleagues out of millions of pounds

Mr. Rufus raised over 15 million pounds in total. As I said, some of it was used for trading by him, but he lost a lot of funds. About 2 million pounds were never even transferred to his foreign exchange trading account

At present, the four week trial is still ongoing.