Jamaican Olympian Usain Bolt has addressed the $12 million missing from his account with a local private investment firm currently at the center of a national fraud investigation. While reports say he has about $12,000 left, the prize sprinter insists he is not “broke.”
On Friday, Jan. 27, Bolt addressed the firing of his business manager amidst a public frenzy around the management of his finances by Kingston-based Stocks and Securities Limited at a sponsored luncheon, saying not only have the two have parted ways but the split was not amicable, NBC News reports.
News broke earlier in the month that SSL, a prominent Jamaican financial institution has mismanaged a great deal of the investments trusted to their firm. Bolt had been investing with the company, which specializes in financial planning, brokerage, private wealth management, and investment banking, since 2012, and now he has almost nothing to show for it.
Bolt’s manager Nugent Walker found out about the fleecing right before the company went public about being connected to a $1.2 billion fraud scandal.
It is unknown if SSL has sought assistance in this situation, but government agencies have refused to bail them out and are now investigating to see if something criminal transpired.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness spoke on the crisis and was firm: “The government will not socialize any debt, and we will not socialize the failure of our banks.”
Like many in the country who trusted the financial institution with their money, Bolt states he is a victim, noting how the news has impacted the old and the young in his beloved country. Some government agencies were also hurt by the firm’s failure.
The eight-time Olympic gold medalist called the ordeal a “sad situation” that has left him “disappointed” and “confused.”
Jamaican officials have not released how much money has been swindled or how many clients have been duped but did reach out to other…
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