‘Raw politicking’
Davis Whyte warns of overpromising in refund claims; sceptical of outcome as Golding pledges SSL inquiry if PNP forms Gov’t
Published:Tuesday | February 18, 2025 | 12:13 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
Veteran trade unionist and public commentator Helene Davis Whyte says that while a commission of inquiry could answer questions about how Stocks & Securities Limited (SSL) was allowed to continue operations that resulted in a multibillion-dollar fraud, she is sceptical of whether there would be a valuable outcome.
Davis Whyte was responding to a declaration by Opposition Leader Mark Golding that should his party form the Government months from now, it would establish the commission to review what transpired.
The US$30-million fraud (J$4 billion) impacted more than 200 accounts at the problem-plagued investment firm, including the account of Welljen, a holding company for retired track and field legend Usain Bolt.
The funds – US$6.2 million invested through the company – were to reportedly form part of Bolt’s retirement plan.
“Questions need to be answered as to what may have gone wrong from the regulatory perspective to have allowed these frauds to have been committed over a period of time [as] it appears,” said Davis Whyte.
She said the inquiry is warranted if investigations do not result in the public getting adequate information and do not inform a process that will ensure that what went wrong is identified and never happens again.
Still, Davis Whyte cautioned that the massive fraud has occurred on the back of the financial meltdown in the 1990s that saw the births of the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) and Jamaica Deposit Insurance Corporation.
“In that situation, persons had asked for a commission of inquiry and one was actually held. Whether it actually answered questions is another matter because I think we are still waiting on the report from the commission.
“But, I think questions need to be answered because it appears as if the regulator would have fallen down on their work if, in fact, all of this was identified and had not been dealt with,” she said.
She warned, however, that any suggestion that money will be returned to the victims of the fraud is “raw politicking”.
Davis Whyte said while Jamaicans are sympathetic to Bolt, it must be stressed that many retired public servants, too, had funds paid to SSL and have also been impacted because the regulator, Financial Services Commission, failed to flag the firm.
She said on that basis, questions must be answered.
Further, she said that the country deserves an update on the status of the fraud investigation, which does not necessarily require the release of the report produced from the Kroll forensics investigation.
She said if silence on the matter persists, persons may continue to believe that things are being swept under the carpet.
“Especially because we have changed minister of finance as well, people want to know where they are, and I think none more so than those who may have had their funds in there. I think that is the information that is absolutely essential right now … ,” Davis Whyte said.
Golding, who was presenting the People’s National Party’s (PNP) prospective candidate Paul Buchanan in St Andrew West Central on Sunday, said “no stone will be left unturned” in getting to the bottom of what transpired at SSL.
Those comments echo a declaration by former Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke as the scandal unfolded in 2023.
“We want the Kroll report to see what has happened. There must be a commission of inquiry into the regulatory failures that would allow an institution like that, licensed to deal in securities and manage people’s money, to have been operating for years carrying out such massive fraud and the regulator let them go ahead until it was too late,” Golding said at the PNP meeting.
“We are going to get to the bottom of it because we respect the people involved who have put their money in Jamaica and to the diaspora and others overseas. We need to send the signal that we take it seriously and that Jamaica is a place where you can come and invest your money, and this Government is letting the people down and letting the side down and it is a disgrace,” he added.
Former FSC Executive Director Everton McFarlane, who inherited a 2017 report that flagged SSL for its “culture of non-compliance and mismanagement of client funds”, resigned days after the scandal became public in January 2023. Janice Holness served in the position from March 2013 to June 2017.
McFarlane’s tenure began in August 2017 and ended on January 31, 2023.
The eight-page internal report was prepared by the FSC in February 2017 ahead of a meeting with SSL representatives who were trying to convince the regulators not to suspend its licence.
The scandal sparked public concern about confidence in securities, but industry experts had insisted that the sector remained strong. It is estimated that SSL’s holdings represent two per cent of a $1.4-trillion industry as at September 2022.