Hope for Usain Bolt? Architects of Sprint Legend’s Lost $12 Million Charged Over Fraudulent Scheme

Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt could have received a gleamer of hope over the over $12 million that he lost in an investment scheme in early 2023.

Bolt was among investors who lost millions of dollars from investment firm Stocks & Securities Limited after he discovered that nearly $13 million of his money had vanished without a trace.

Now after months of empty promises, three former senior officials from the collapsed investment firm have been charged following a nearly three-year investigation into the alleged multibillion-dollar fraud.

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In response to public criticism over the length of the probe, law enforcement officials have described the case as exceptionally complex. Inspector Brenton Williams, head of the Constabulary Financial Unit, labeled the alleged $5-billion fraud "long-standing and sophisticated," emphasizing that the intricacy of the investigation "cannot be overstated."

Williams explained that the probe required a thorough review of the company's activities since its inception in 2006. This involved meticulously analyzing investor transactions and the movement of funds over the 17 years leading up to the firm's collapse.

"We understand the public’s expectation for swift results and that delays can be viewed negatively. Work of this nature takes time and must be done diligently," Williams stated in a release from the Financial Investigation Division (FID), the lead agency in the case as per Jamaica Gleaner.

He affirmed the capabilities of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the FID, and the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA). "The JCF, FID and our law-enforcement partners... have the capacity and the expertise to conduct these investigations thoroughly and bring matters forward in keeping with the rule of law," he added.

The statement followed the arrests of three former SSL executives in coordinated operations across St. Andrew and St. James. The FID later confirmed that founding director Hugh Croskery, his daughter Sarah Meany, and former CEO Zachary Harding were charged with multiple breaches of financial sector laws.

The charges against all three individuals include fraudulently inducing persons to invest, carrying on a securities business without a dealer’s licence, and failing to register a company operating in Jamaica. They also face charges for failing to apply for registration of securities issued and for breaches of the Banking Services Act.

According to the FID, similar charges have been laid against SSL itself, as well as Delta Capital Partners Limited (led by Harding) and SSL Growth Equity Limited. The charges fall under the Securities Act, the Larceny Act, the Bank of Jamaica Act, and the Banking Services Act. Harding faces an additional charge for breaching the Companies Act.

Croskery and Meany were granted bail for $1 million each and are scheduled to appear in court on January 26. Their attorneys, King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie and Michael Hemmings, confirmed that their travel documents were surrendered as a condition of their release.

Sources indicated that Harding was also granted bail, though the specific conditions were not made public.

Champagnie defended the decision to grant his client station bail, addressing public criticism. He noted that while the old Bail Act of 2001 had a $400,000 limit for bail authorized by senior police officers, the new 2023 Act does not include this provision. "That provision was not carried over," he explained, reminding the public that bail is a constitutional right.