The rock star, the polo set and the man who played them for fools Mr Rutherford, 62, a founding member of Genesis and Mike and the Mechanics and himself a keen polo player, is so horrified by Mr Welsh's behaviour he has now circulated a letter to the world's leading polo clubs warning them to steer clear of him. Mr Rutherford's letter, passed to The Sunday Telegraph, states: "I feel it my duty to notify the governing bodies of the polo fraternity of a man named Simon Welsh who seems to have made it his profession to fool as many people as possible - the list gets longer and his polo ambitions get bigger - so before anybody else is taken in by this individual I feel I should send out a severe warning to as many clubs and players as possible. The facts are - he came to Sotogrande with his family in 2011/2012 to play polo with his son. Having initially lavished money around buying polo ponies and making sure everyone knew he was very wealthy - the money stopped - he rented a house from me but never paid rent or bills for 8 months/ Jack Kidd was his polo pro who ended up being owed large sums ... and had his ponies impounded as Simon owed Ayala polo club livery....... it seems he didn't pay his grooms or the local merchants (Travel agency/ Taxi company / and other family run businesses). Then he left as quickly as he arrived. Having made enquiries I've heard that he did the same in Gstaad - he has a format which has to be stopped. In his letter, Mr Rutherford concludes: "So as you can see it's very wrong to allow someone to live like this and carry on a lavish lifestyle at the cost of so many innocent people. While I was touring with 'Genesis" I visited and played polo in many great clubs around the world and the camaraderie of the sport was fantastic. I was lucky enough to make many good friends in those 25 years and luckily never came across a character like this. Mr Welsh first approached Mr Kidd, the brother of the supermodel Jodie Kidd, with the offer to fund a polo team a year ago. Mr Welsh had flown into Barbados, where he met Mr Kidd, whose family owns a house there. They agreed to form a polo team Cancha 2, run by Mr Kidd and funded by Mr Welsh. Mr Welsh's teenage son was also a member of the team, which went on to win a prestigious trophy during the Spanish polo season in the summer. But their friendship has now gone stale. Mr Kidd claims he is owed in the region of £30,000 for running the team. The unpaid livery bill is said to be closer to £65,000. The pair had no written contract but Mr Kidd insists there was a verbal agreement - he claims typical in the world of polo - for a team's patron to shoulder the costs. It is claimed that Mr Welsh, who explained to creditors that he was having trouble securing money from a trust fund, also owes money to grooms and smaller companies in Spain. Mr Kidd, 40, said: "Simon Welsh lured me into his trap and as a result has devastated my polo career." Mr Rutherford said last week: "Mr Welsh's money appears to have run out in February which is when he stopped paying the rent. I am only talking to The Sunday Telegraph about it because what he has done and what he will do again is so morally wrong. The only way is to expose him. Mr Welsh - whose favourite film is said to be Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the 1988 comedy featuring Michael Caine and Steve Martin as con artists - has travelled widely around the world since growing up in Manchester where his father runs a highly successful business. He was living in Gstaad in 2007 when he befriended Julian Worth, an internet entrepreneur who had already made his fortune by selling his online fashion business for £140 million. Their children and wives also became close. Mr Worth said he was then approached by Mr Welsh asking for money to pay for school fees and rent on his home. Mr Worth then over a period of time lent him in the region of £150,000 but has never received a penny back. Again Mr Welsh explained he had a cash flow problem caused by a trust fund that was caught up in a tax wrangle. Mr Worth said last week: "He befriended us and used out so called friendship to screw me and that is what I find totally unacceptable. That is his modus operandi. Mr Welsh, who is understood to be back in Switzerland, said last week: "There are two sides of the coin. If I was prepared to do a story to explain what that position is what would you do for me? I can assure you all these points you have told me are incorrect and they can be validated legally. He said on Thursday that he did not wish to talk further until he had talked to his legal team. He then telephoned the next day to say he would not be commenting on the allegations. "I just want to keep the matter private and just between the parties involved," he said, adding: "Obviously when the newspaper comes out on Sunday it will ruin my ski weekend. I would just like to mention to everybody 'have a nice Christmas.""