The temporary manager of Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL), Kenneth Tomlinson, has confirmed that sprint legend Usain Bolt has an account at SSL in the name of a limited liability company.
The revelation was made in a statement on Tuesday issued by Finance and the Public Service Minister, Dr Nigel Clarke, who informed that Tomlinson advised him of the relevant information.
Additionally, the temporary SSL manager has told Clarke that Bolt’s account dates back to 2012.
Businessman Zachary Harding said on the weekend, in a statement, that during his tenure as CEO of embattled investment firm SSL between September 2019 and June 2022, he wasn’t aware that Bolt, or any company affiliated with him, was a client of the entity.
He claimed, too, that he “only learnt of Bolt being a client of SSL when the news broke in the media”.
“At no time at all did his (Bolt) or any company he may have been affiliated with ever come up as being a client of SSL while I was there,” he declared then.
The former SSL CEO said another employee at the investment firm who served in various capacities, including that of CEO prior to his tenure, “was also not aware” of Bolt being a client of SSL.
“Additionally, none of the senior management team that I led was working at SSL when Bolt’s account was initially opened,” Harding stated.
“It was also recently disclosed from a reliable source that Bolt’s team only dealt with one person at SSL and that was Jean Ann Panton,” he added.
Harding has also said that he was never aware of any misappropriation of funds at the investment firm during his tenure.
“It was never, at any time, revealed nor brought to my attention that clients’ investments funds were being misappropriated while I was CEO of SSL, nor was I ever made aware of any similar improprieties taking place,” he declared further.
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Last Tuesday, Bolt’s legal team on Tuesday issued SSL with a 10-day ultimatum to return his missing money – in excess of US$12 million (Ja$1.8 billion) – or face legal action. The retired sprinter’s account at SSL now reportedly contains only US$12,000.
The SSL fraud became public on January 12 after it was revealed that Bolt was among the individuals who had been hit by embezzlement at SSL.
Dr Clarke, on Monday, revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been engaged to assist with the investigations.
Clarke said many elderly citizens were also defrauded of funds at the entity.
The amount of money allegedly defrauded is not known to date as the Financial Investigations Division (FID) and other law enforcement agencies probe the developments at SSL.
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