Usain Bolt defrauded of $12M life savings, left with $12K
Jamaica’s Olympic sprinting icon, Usain Bolt has lost millions of dollars in his account with Stocks and Securities Ltd, an investment company based in Kingston.
The lawyers of the track star said they are prepared to file a lawsuit if that will make it possible to recover the $12 million that mysteriously disappeared from Bolt’s account.
The statement from Bolt’s lawyers read, “The account was part of Bolt’s retirement and lifetime savings.
“It’s distressing news for anyone, and certainly in the case of Mr Bolt, who established this account as part of his private pension,” Gordon said on Wednesday.
“We will be going to court with the matter” if the company does not return the funds,” his lawyer, Linton P. Gordon, told Fortune magazine over the phone.
“It is a grave disappointment, and we are hoping that the matter will be resolved in a way that Mr Bolt will recover his money and be able to live in peace,” he added.
In reaction to the development, Stocks and Securities Ltd said in a statement on January 12 that it learned of the fraudulent activity by a former employee and had alerted law enforcement to the situation.
It also said that it had taken measures to secure customers’ assets and tighten protocols.
On Tuesday night, Jamaica’s Finance Minister Nigel Clarke claimed that SSL had committed “alarming and evil fraud” and promised to “bring all perpetrators to justice.”
The Associated Press reported that Mr Bolt’s account with the company was created to act as a pension for both of his parents and the eight-time Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter.
Bolt retired in 2017 after dominating the sprinting world for a decade, bringing back a sport marred by doping scandals, and becoming a household name like Muhammad Ali and Brazilian soccer legend Pele
