Pay them back!

THE governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has urged the proprietors and accountable officers at Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL) to ensure that Jamaicans, including legendary sprinter Usain Bolt, are reimbursed money that they, “in good faith”, invested with the scandal-hit company.

The party, in a statement issued on Friday, also rejected what it describes as “barefaced lies being told by People’s National Party (PNP) operatives” who “seek to connect Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the Government to wrongdoing at SSL”.

The statement came following a series of cryptic tweets by Bolt last week which led to several Jamaicans speculating whether the sprint icon was lashing out at authorities due to him not recouping his multimillion-dollar investment in SSL.

Last month SSL indicated that it is advanced in its plans to pay back thousands of clients, noting that the payout is largely from the proceeds of the international securities client portfolio sale, with an approximate value in excess of US$30 million ($4.7 billion).

But the JLP said it is not satisfied with the pace of the payback and is urging the owners of SSL to do right by Bolt and others who have not recouped their funds that were allegedly fleeced by agents of the investment house which, over the years, had managed to attract investments from dozens of prominent Jamaicans.

“While we leave conclusions concerning guilt to the appropriate authorities, we urge the owners and proprietors of SSL to exercise their moral obligation to clients who were wronged,” JLP Deputy General Secretary Charles Sinclair said in the statement.

He noted that some investors have received restitution. However, he said the party is deeply concerned that Bolt and several other investors have not yet got back funds, and insisted that these individuals “get back every dollar they invested in SSL”.

Sinclair said the Government has made certain it has made available resources to ensure a thorough investigation into the matter. Additionally, he said it is a step in the right direction that an individual “who was employed to SSL and has reportedly confessed to stealing funds from the entity, including Bolt’s investment”, has been charged and is before the court.

Noting that the matter regarding the former SSL employee issub-judice, Sinclair said the JLP is making no comment beyond indicating that it is hopeful the wheels of justice will turn sufficiently fast to ensure that in the event of a conviction, Bolt and those who were fleeced are compensated by way of formal legal processes available to ensure restitution.

Sinclair also condemned what he described as, “attempts by PNP operatives on social media, including some elected PNP officials”, to suggest that the Government and Prime Minister Holness are in any way culpable for wrongdoing at SSL which, he emphasised, is a private company.

“The fact is, the prime minister had an investment in SSL from 2008 which matured several years later, and consequently funds were legitimately transferred to another financial institution. This investment belonged to the prime minister and is in no way, shape, or form connected to wrongdoing at SSL,” Sinclair stated.

Sinclair, who is an attorney, also issued a word of caution to people who, he insisted, are using social media to spread false information concerning Holness, the Government, and SSL.

The SSL débâcle erupted in January last year when it was revealed that the firm could not account for the investments made by scores of Jamaicans, including Bolt.

Former SSL Client Relationship Manager Jean-Ann Panton is facing a 21-count indictment after being charged with three counts of larceny as a servant, three counts of falsification of accounts, five counts of forgery, five counts of uttering forged documents, three counts of engaging in transaction involving stolen property, and three counts of breaches of the Cybercrimes Act.

The scandal came to light after Panton reportedly approached an individual who is a close friend and business representative of Bolt, and asked for assistance to pay back funds he had given her to invest in the entity, which she reportedly confessed she had stolen.

SSL was subsequently placed into receivership, with Financial Services Commission appointing a liquidator to oversee the process of winding up the company.

An investigation involving an international forensic auditing firm reportedly revealed that the major chunk of Bolt’s funds went missing over 10 years ago, and the sprint icon was sent fake statements by a former SSL employee.

Some stakeholders, including a few of those fleeced and social media bloggers, have been urging the Government to pay back investors in SSL whose investments cannot be accounted for.

But the finance ministry has taken the stance that such an intervention into the affairs of a private sector company would be unprecedented, set in train a dangerous precedent, and represent an inappropriate use of taxpayers’ money.