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Richard Rufus quits Charlton Athletic position following fraud case - report

Richard Rufus has resigned from his posts at Charlton after being found to have overseen a multi-million pound fraud, Press Association Sport reported.

The retired defender, who spent his entire professional career with Charlton between 1993 and 2004, had been working as an academy coach and an ambassador for the community trust at the south London club.

However, he has now reportedly quit after he was branded a fraudster by specialist civil court judge Clive Jones at the High Court in London earlier this month.

Bankruptcy registrar Jones said Rufus had accepted more than £16million from investors between 2007 and 2011 -- without authorisation and in breach of financial regulations.

He had lost more than £5 million through currency exchange trading and used more than £3m for his "own purposes".

He had also given money which came from the pockets of some investors to other investors and pretended that money was profit.

Registrar Jones said Rufus had misused money given to him by officials at two London churches he had links with.

He said Rufus had "exploited trust and friendship" and what he had done was "in substance a fraud."

Press Association Sport reported that Charlton will announce his departure later this week.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which has the power to prosecute in such cases, refused to comment on Rufus' case earlier this month.