When news broke Thursday that athletic superstar Usain Bolt was among several victims allegedly defrauded by a local investment company, international media descended on it but not before the court of public opinion.
Many Jamaicans were critical of the entity at the heart of the incident, Stocks and Securities Limited, (SSL) questioned whether those responsible felt the retired athlete would not have noticed this discrepancy.
The local media reported Bolt’s Manager Nugent Walker as saying a probe was underway into the missing millions from Bolt’s accounts. It is not clear exactly how many millions have been reported missing so far despite the claims of wide-scale fraud implicating an unnamed SSL personnel.
Attorney Tamika Harris is representing the employee at the centre of the ordeal.
Meantime, when Cvm Live contacted a source close to the entity, we were advised if such an incident were to occur it must have sent off red flags internally and externally. The source notes, audits are typically done on a perennial basis in keeping with protocols from the regulatory body, the Financial Services Commission. This the source indicates would therefore warrant several questions, such as to whom did the unnamed personnel report, and was the employee the mastermind in such a wide-scale act.
The source says critical to the auditing and operations involving these clients would be SSL’s Risk and Compliance Head, who ensures the constant monitoring and auditing is done, SSL’s Chief Financial Officer and the entity’s Head of Wealth Management.
In a statement from SSL Thursday the company says it is management has become aware of fraudulent activity by a former employee. It says following initial internal investigations, the management referred the matter to the relevant law enforcement authorities to facilitate a thorough and complete examination of all aspects of the matter.
SSL adds steps have been taken to secure those assets and strengthen internal protocols to detect suspicious activity in the shortest time possible. It says it is been cooperating with the authorities and will ensure the responsible party faces the full consequence of the law.
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