Jamaican sprint icon Usain Bolt believes not enough is being done by the Government assist him in recovering funds stolen from him and many other clients at the now bankrupt investment firm, Stocks and Securities Limited. Bolt was among 200 clients who lost a combined sum of about $4-billion to a fraud scheme at the institution that was exposed in January 2023.
The current 100m and 200m world record holder was allegedly defrauded of US$6.2 million that converts to J$950 million.
Speaking during an appearance on The Fix podcast, Bolt disclosed that his expectations of what would happen have not been met, also noting that the help he expected to receive from “certain people” has not materialized.
“The Government alone can really do something big about this. They are the only ones that can go in and say listen, this needs to be fixed!” he said.
“If they were doing enough, it would reach a certain level already,” he added.
Former SSL Client Relations Manager, Jean Ann Panton, is the sole individual charged in the matter.
Bolt, however, finds it hard to believe that she was the only person aware of what was going on in the building.
“All this money missing and only one person knows about it? One person can’t move around and nobody else knows about it in a big institution where you’re supposed to regulated right. A lot of things move. It’s not like I was the only one so you’re telling me you run an institution and you notice nothing is happening? You don’t get audited?” he said.
“It hit me for six,” was how Bolt described the initial feeling upon finding out about the theft.
“This made me look at who I am and where I thought I was on the food chain in Jamaica. If this happened to me and it was going on for two years and I can’t see back a dime,” he added.
With his global superstardom in mind, Bolt has obviously been contacted by many overseas media houses with an opportunity to share his story but he has repeatedly declined, citing his love for Jamaica.
However, with the snail-pace at which this whole thing is moving, Bolt believes he will soon have no choice but to speak his mind.
“A lot of international people have called and have asked me if I want to speak on it and I’ve always said no, in time. Even when I do things I say we cannot speak about this because, at the end of the day, when I start to speak it’s going to hurt Jamaica a lot,” Bolt said.
“I try to avoid that as much over the two years but at some point, I have to start saying something. Clearly, it looks like, If I don’t apply some pressure or make a whole lot of questions start being asked, I won’t get back anything,” he added.