Alleged Usain Bolt fraudster asked for loan to repay victims
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Eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt is one of the alleged victims of the embezzlement scandal as his lawyers said their client was missing more than $15.7 million) from his account.
PHOTO: AFP
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KINGSTON – The Jamaican financial firm at the centre of an embezzlement scandal that ensnared Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt
Stocks & Securities Ltd said in an emailed statement that Bolt’s management had approached the firm on Jan 11 to report that an SSL employee had gone to their office and confessed that she had falsified statements and stolen their client’s money.
She also allegedly requested a loan to help pay back other victims, according to SSL, which did not identify the employee.
Despite the confession, she “apparently still believed that she could borrow the money from the Bolt management group to repay the other SSL clients,” the Kingston-based firm said.
SSL said that a company disciplinary panel recommended that the employee be dismissed for “negligence and gross incompetence.”
Last month, Bolt’s lawyers said their client was missing more than US$12 million (S$15.7 million) from his account.
SSL said it is still evaluating its total losses, but said that the “vast majority of clients have not been affected by fraud.”
The firm’s insurance policy includes coverage for employee dishonesty and forgery with coverage up to US$1 million, and efforts are also being made to have the staff member commit to restitution, SSL said.
The scandal has rattled Jamaica and led the government to appoint Bank of Jamaica Governor Richard Byles as head of the Financial Securities Commission, the organiation that oversees non-bank financial entities such as SSL.
An eight-gold Olympic champion, Bolt is among the world’s best-known sports icons, and his involvement in the case spurred headlines around the globe.
“The events that have unfolded have had tremendous adverse consequences for the affected clients, and for the hard-working staff at SSL,” the firm said.
“The former employee’s dishonesty has led to the most widely publicised news event from Jamaica in recent years.” BLOOMBERG
