FA Cup legend Ricky George jailed for two years after involvement in £250k scam which left victim suffering a heart attack.
Ricky George, scorer of one of the most famous goals in FA Cup history, has been jailed for two years for his part in a £250,000 fraud which left a victim suffering a heart attack.
In 1972 George, now 72, became known all over the country when his goal for non-League Hereford United dumped top-flight Newcastle United out of the competition in a third-round replay.
But last month he was sentenced at St Albans Crown Court, where the only fairytale was the defence he offered in a desperate bid to clear his name.
George was found guilty of money laundering, along with his son Adam, 40, who was also sent to prison. The fraud involved the sale of a house without the consent or knowledge of its owner.
Those behind the 'sale' obtained deeds from the Land Registry using fake identification, told the renting tenants to move out and promptly sold it to an unwitting buyer for £250,000.
The buyer, discovering the scam, suffered a heart attack but he subsequently recovered. After the sale, Adam George moved £120,000 into a business account at the request of his father.
Of that amount, £110,000 was withdrawn in cash by the pair and a third man, Charles Jogi, 57, and given to an unknown third party.
The court heard that the trio had fallen on hard times and were heavily overdrawn.
George Snr's defence was that the £120,000 was sent as an investment by a Ukrainian businessman with whom he had struck a deal to buy second-hand telecoms equipment in the UK to be distributed throughout eastern Europe.
The exchange, it was claimed, took place in a Costa Coffee outlet in Edgware.
George Snr, of Hadley Grove, Barnet, gave his name as Richard Stuart George in court. He dropped several famous names in a bid to illustrate that he was an innocent man, stating that he had worked with the likes of TV commentator John Motson.
The jury, however, was not impressed and - after a six-day trial - returned a guilty verdict in just an hour.
The accused group looked shell shocked when the verdict was returned and there were tears in the public gallery.
It was a far cry from the euphoria on the Edgar Street mud bath 46 years ago when George's 103rd-minute shot gave Hereford a famous victory after Ronnie Radford's stunning strike had cancelled out Malcolm Macdonald's opener.
Alan Mordey, from Herts Police's serious fraud and cybercrime unit, said: 'The house's purchaser lost £250,000, which led him to have a heart attack after he found out he was a victim of the fraud. He thankfully survived. The defendants had fallen on hard times. Richard George was not employed and had claimed the deal was part of a business he was trying to get up and running.'
Adam George, of Burleigh Road, St Albans, was jailed for 15 months while Jogi, 57, of Hill Close, Stanmore, was sentenced to 200 hours unpaid work and given a community order.
All three were sentenced under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
A Herts Police spokesman added: 'The three who were convicted were not the ones who sold the house. The people who sold the house remain unidentified.' The police investigation remains ongoing.
