The Sunday Times has a feature article this morning on the financial woes of Richard Rufus who was declared bankrupt in October. It claims that he was in line for the 2002 World Cup squad before he was injured.
Rufus is being pursued by a Pentecostalist church for losses of £5m. In 2004 he became a minister and trustee at the Kingsway International Christian Centre. Between 2009 and 2011 Rufus was given funds of £5m to invest by KICC. The gains were initially in line with Rufus's predictions, but in 2011 he was served with a bankruptcy petition by the Financial Services Authority. [It is possible that the difficulties with the investments were the result of the global financial crisis which hit returns from what had looked like promising investments]. The church did recover £1.7m, but took the lead in the recent bankruptcy petition.
At the time of the original petition his assets included a £1.9m property in Surrey, but the mortgages on five properties were greater than their value. [This would reflect the general slump in house prices]. His assets were worth £778,000.
Rufus is still pursuing a libel action against Paul Elliott who he alleges wrongly accused him of leaking information to the press.
The Sunday Times tries to make something of his induction into the Charlton hall of fame this year, but that reflects his services to the club over 288 appearances, including a vital goal at Wembley. My wife was his main shirt sponsor for many years and it is sad to see him face these difficulties. Many footballers find the adjustment to life outside the game difficult.
2 comments:
Wonderful memories of Rufus.... Shame this has happened. I think the Sunday Times has bigger fish to go after than our Hall of Fame though
A wonderful and dependable player, nothing can take that away.
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