Olympic legend and 100 and 200-meter world record holder, Usain Bolt, is still in the dark after he had $12.7 million stolen from him in a fraud scandal.
Bolt was defrauded out of much of his savings with a probe ongoing into a scandal-ridden investment firm that stole more than $30m from more than 30 clients. Jamaica’s minister of finance and public service, Dr. Nigel Clarke, announced that investigators were determined to get to the bottom of the complex scheme orchestrated by Stocks and Securities Limited.
Clarke said the scandal risked staining Jamaica’s reputation globally but nearly two years on, Bolt and Co. are still without answers. Bolt’s lawyer, Linton Gordon, told The Gleaner this month: “(Dr. Nigel) Clarke (Jamaica’s minister of finance and the public service) announced that investigators were coming from Canada, England from Timbuktu and from the United States.
“We haven’t had one iota of information regarding the outcome of those investigations. So, we don’t know who took the money, who we can turn to, because everything is now under cover.”
- Patrick Mahomes melts hearts with message to daughter Sterling during live MNF interview
- Jason Kelce has bold stance on brother Travis’ priorities after Taylor Swift criticism
Bolt hasn’t spoken extensively on the scandal but he did seemingly hint at it on social media. The iconic sprinter left fans scratching their heads with puzzling social media posts.
“They banking on the country youth love for his country but ask yourself, do they love their country or themselves,” he wrote. Bolt’s lawyer, Gordan, said the Jamaican Olympic hero is disappointed.
“He’s simply shocked and disappointed to know a country he has put on the map, and he put his money in an institution here, that he has lost it or he can’t get it back,” Gordon said. Bolt’s holding company, Welljen, opened an account with SSL with an initial investment of $6.2m intended for his retirement.
Usain Bolt is still the 100m and 200m world record holder (
Getty)
A lawsuit was filed against SSL and Jean-Ann Panton, a former manager at the firm. Panton is the only person to be charged thus far, and she’s facing a 21-count indictment after being charged with forgery, larceny as a servant, and engaging in a transaction involving criminal property.
“What we want to know is, who took the money?” Gordon added. Bolt retired from competition in 2017. He dominated the 100m and 200m events at three consecutive Olympic Games. Bolt first won gold in both events in 2008 in Beijing, China.
He defended his titles four years later in London and added the 4x100m relay crown. Bolt returned in Rio in 2016 and defended all three of his Olympic golds, with his career medals haul standing at eight golds.
Leave a Reply