Safety net broken - More Delta Capital investors left waiting as court records show massive financial gap

Delta Capital Partners, the investment firm facing criminal charges in Jamaica for alleged regulatory breaches, had assets up to December 2023 that were valued at one-third of its over US$15.4 million or J$2.3 billion in liabilities, a financial disclosure form filed in court has revealed.

Promissory notes accounted for US$14 million or approximately J$2.1 billion in the liabilities while “payables” accounted for US$1.4 million or J$227 million, according to a statement of financial position the company filed in court and obtained by The Sunday Gleaner.

In comparison, the statement, which was filed by Anthony Dunn, former chief investment officer at Delta Capital, said the company had assets valued at US$4.28 million or J$664 million up to the end of 2023.

The disclosures were made in response to a lawsuit filed by retired businessman George Chai against Delta Capital and co-founder Zachary Harding, seeking to recover US$220,000 he invested via promissory notes.

The financial state of the St Lucia-registered company comes as other investors holding promissory notes have begun to come forward.

Jane Doe*, a cancer survivor in her 50s, broke down in tears at the prospect that she could lose the US$100,000 she invested in May 2023 with interest calculated at 8.5 per cent per annum.

“I am a cancer survivor so I can’t take my health for granted. I always need to have a safety net and that’s what that money was for,” she said through the tears during an interview with The Sunday Gleaner on Friday.

“It breaks me apart to my very core because that money did not come easily. It came at a cost, working very late hours – blood, sweat and many tears. I sacrificed a lot to save that money and that was supposed to be my retirement,” said Doe, who is employed to a major international agency.

Delta Capital did not file a defence to Chai’s lawsuit and was ordered by the Supreme Court to pay him US$220,225 or J$35 million, David Wong Ken, the attorney representing the retired businessman, confirmed last Tuesday.

In March this year, the Supreme Court also ordered Delta Capital to pay a retired Jamaican entrepreneur living in the United States US$101,547 or J$16 million to recover the US$80,000 she invested via promissory notes issued in 2023, The Sunday Gleaner reported last week.

The money was a nest egg, the woman The Sunday Gleaner referred to as Mary Jane* said. She was saving to help cover future medical expenses for her 12-year-old daughter who has Down’s syndrome, is autistic, and cognitively delayed.

In the Chai case, Wong Ken revealed that the Supreme Court ordered a show-cause hearing for executives of Delta Capital to explain why the retired businessman’s investment was not paid.

But he said this ended “without any positive results because they were not able to show any assets worthy of pursuit”.

“So we have a judgment that is not satisfied. It is now a situation where we would watch to see what becomes of Delta and what becomes of Mr [Zachary] Harding because you don’t want to keep throwing good money after bad,” he said.

“We have the judgment and, if it appears at any point that there is a possibility of recovery, then we would take action from there.”

Harding served as chief executive officer of Stocks & Securities Limited (SSL) between 2019 and 2022 before co-founding Delta Capital.

Harding, along with Delta co-founder and former SSL founding director Hugh Croskery, is awaiting trial on multiple criminal charges related to the operations of SSL and Delta Capital.

Mary Brown*, an 86-year-old retired nurse in Jamaica’s public healthcare system, said she has “never lost one night sleep” over the US$150,000 (J$23.6 million) she invested with Delta Capital, opting instead to “leave it to God”.

The money she invested was from her life savings and the sale of several properties, Brown disclosed.

“When I say that, I am not a mad woman. God says, ‘Vengeance is Mine; I will repay’, and I went on my knees to my God and I gave the entire matter to Him and the names of the persons,” she told The Sunday Gleaner on Thursday.

“I walked away and I said, ‘God, You deal with it and them. I will not do anything.’

“In God’s own time, … you will see [that] they won’t be able to recognise themselves when my God starts to deal with them,” Brown said.

The authorities in the British Virgin Islands announced just over a week ago that an investigation is being conducted into how US$2.5 million in public funds was invested with Delta Capital last year without the required financial approvals.

In a letter to Jane, dated June 16, 2025, Jamaica’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) disclosed that an investigation it conducted uncovered evidence that promissory notes were brokered by SSL and issued in the name of Delta Capital.

SSL is the Jamaican investment firm that collapsed in January 2023 amid allegations of fraud amounting to some $3 billion that affected the accounts of more than 200 clients, including Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt, the authorities have disclosed.

The FSC said in the letter that its investigation focussed on SSL’s alleged role in arranging, issuing and distribution of unregistered securities by SSL, “affiliates of SSL and other related entities”.

Delta Capital is facing charges for breaches of several laws, including the Securities Act, the Bank of Jamaica Act and the Banking Services Act.

*Names changed.

livern.barett@gleanerjm.com