Decade Before Usain Bolt’s $12,700,000 Loss, Jamaican Regulatory Body Had Issued Stern Directives to SSL

On January 16, news broke that athletics icon Usain Bolt had become the victim of a massive scam. The Olympia had invested nearly $13 million of his saving with financial investment firm Stocks & Securities Limited. However, Bolt’s lawyers said that one or a group of fraudsters had defrauded the Olympic legend. After losing $12.7 million, Bolt only had $12,000 left in his SSL account. Jamaica’s Financial Services Commission found several discrepancies in SSL’s day-to-day operations. The latest revelation claims the government had issued directives to SSL a decade ago.

In the two weeks since the incident, the mystery has deepened. However, despite the intervention of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the people responsible for the fraud remain free.

A massive revelation in the Usain Bolt case

The Financial Services Commission sent a letter to the CEO of Stocks and Securities Limited in October 2013. In the letter, they told the financial firm to follow two directives. According to The Gleaner, one of the directives was to “Refrain from soliciting business from members of the public.” They also told SSL to refrain from dealing in securities business without approval from the FSC. Additionally, in case of an audit, the FSC instructed SSL to provide all relevant information to the appointed auditor.

Stocks & Securities Limited received a set of directives in January 2013 as well. According to The Gleaner, the letter instructed SSL not to purchase or acquire assets that could affect the company’s balance sheet. They would need FSC’s approval to do so. Like the October directives, FSC instructed the investment firm to provide the existing balance sheet listings, beneficiary portfolios, and asset details.

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However, SSL might not have followed all the directives and rules of business. In 2019, the FSC produced a report on Stocks & Securities Limited which outlined several discrepancies. However, the most alarming suggestion might have been the discrepancy between “Liquid funds held in bank accounts.” and “Clients’ funds held in cash.” According to The Gleaner, this suggested SSL used clients’ money to fund its day-to-day operations.

A point of conflict

The Gleaner also mentions an independent audit. The audit report came out on January 27, 2020. It concluded that SSL was adequately running its day-to-day operations. “In our opinion, proper accounting records have been maintained so far as appears from our examination,” stated the audit report.

The report also concluded that SSL provided all the details required by the “Jamaica Companies Act.” While significant, only time will tell if this information leads to arrests.

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