A former employee of a financial institution where Olympic champion Usain Bolt was a member was arrested for stealing from the track star’s retirement account, but her attorneys argued she is too sick to be held in jail.
The investment firm Stocks and Securities Limites was accused last month of draining more than $12 million from Bolt’s account in his business’ name.
Bolt’s retirement account was left with only $12,000 after being drained of approximately $12,758,000 by the investment firm. The Jamaica Observer reported that SSL Client relationship manager Jean-Ann Panton was arrested on Feb. 17 and charged with forgery, larceny as a servant, uttering forged documents, and breaching the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Panton allegedly admitted to stealing $3 million from clients’ accounts during meetings with the Financial Investigations Division detectives and the Jamaica Constable Force’s Fraud Squad between Feb. 14 and 16. Reports show Panton confessed to stealing from Bolt’s account since it was opened in 2012.
Panton has been accused of defrauding 39 clients out of millions of US dollars. She has been charged in relation to three clients so far, including Bolt and his manager, which total $6.3 million in fraud. Four more clients have since come forward to report Panton for theft.
Her attorney Tamika Harris applied for bail at the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston on Panton’s behalf citing medical grounds. Panton showed up to court in a wheelchair, and Harris claimed her client was born with a dislocated hip and has had “a series of 25 surgeries” since the age of 2.
“She requires wheelchair assistance and the use of a walker as part of her rehabilitation,” said Harris. “And she has also had side effects from the antibiotics prescribed which makes balancing challenging.”
Justice Shelly Williams was seemingly unimpressed with Panton’s medical claim and questioned why medical documents only stated…
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