SSL PAYOUT STARTS
Bolt’s company among 40 defrauded SSL clients set to receive funds starting Monday
Published:Sunday | August 24, 2025 | 12:12 AMJovan Johnson - Senior Staff Reporter
To access this article in full please login or register today
Usain Bolt’s company is one of roughly 40 defrauded clients of the massive Stocks...
Usain Bolt’s company is one of roughly 40 defrauded clients of the massive Stocks & Securities Limited (SSL) fraud set to start receiving payouts from a compensation fund beginning Monday, according to trustee Caydion Campbell.
After months of verification delays, Campbell confirmed to The Sunday Gleaner that he has signed off on the first round of disbursements, alongside the court-appointed Committee of Inspection.
The payments mark a major step in Jamaica’s response to one of its worst cases of financial frauds – an estimated US$30 million (J$5 billion) was siphoned from over 200 clients, including US$6.2 million (J$950 million) belonging to Bolt’s company, Welljen Limited.
“We have finalised with the Committee of Inspection and the payments will be made next week,” Campbell said last Friday.
He assumed control of the winding-up process in May last year after a court ended government oversight of SSL.
Campbell noted that early payments had been delayed as extra verification checks were needed to ensure all legitimate claims were captured fairly.
“This might very well be the only source of funds for some of the claimants, so we just wanted to make sure we capture as many persons,” he said.
Currently, the Victims’ Compensation Fund holds $79 million, while approved claims total $1.7 billion. As a result, a 4.5 per cent distribution has been declared, amounting to $75 million. It means victims will only recover a small fraction of their losses at this time.
“Fourteen Tier 1 claimants will receive a total of $61 million beginning on August 25,” Campbell disclosed, noting that another 26 Tier 2 claimants will begin receiving approximately $14 million the following week, pending additional particulars.
Campbell said the 40 beneficiaries fall within the category of off-balance-sheet affected trust claimants, investors whose funds were held outside of SSL’s formal accounts. He noted that the first disbursements are going to Tier 1 claimants, where sufficient records exist to quantify the admitted sums. Tier 2 claimants, he added, are still being processed, with some amounts estimated from activity patterns because complete information has not yet been supplied.
Asked specifically whether Bolt’s company will receive funds, Campbell broke his usual silence on individual cases.
“To avoid any mischief, I can confirm a distribution is to be made to Welljen. No further comments,” he said.
The Financial Services Commission had flagged SSL as far back as 2017 for a “culture of non-compliance and mismanagement of client funds”.
Months of public frustration
The latest developments follow months of public frustration from victims, including Bolt, who has openly criticised the pace and transparency of the investigation.
In a February appearance on The Fix podcast, the eight-time Olympic gold medallist and 100m world record holder expressed growing impatience: “Clearly, it looks like if me no apply some pressure or do something or start make whole heap o’ questions being asked, me nah go get back nutten,” he said then.
His attorney, Linton Gordon, welcomed the trustee’s latest step but underscored its inadequacy.
“Payments being made are just a fraction of what persons have lost, and it’s just the start,” he told The Sunday Gleaner on Friday. “There’s no indication that these payments will be anywhere near what persons have lost.”
Gordon declined to disclose the specific amount that Welljen will receive, saying, “That would be highly confidential and in breach of my obligation as an attorney.”
On the question of recovering the remaining sums, he added, “We will just have to go along to see where the trustee will reach with his disbursement, but I would be speculating now were I to make an effort to predict or to forecast how that will go.”
Bolt has publicly rejected suggestions that he was negligent in his dealings with SSL, noting that the brokerage was licensed by the Financial Services Commission and counted several state entities among its clients. Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness was also a client before giving instructions in September 2021 for his account at SSL to be closed.
Gordon had also condemned what he described as attempts to shift blame onto his client rather than the failed oversight of regulators.
Welljen filed a lawsuit against SSL and Jean-Ann Panton, a former client relationship manager, to recover damages of US$6.2 million, the original sum he invested, or US$12.7 million, the amount on one of the last statements Bolt received in 2022, a court was told. Panton is the only one charged in the matter so far.
Welljen’s account was opened at SSL in 2012 to support Bolt’s retirement. The 39-year-old left track and field after the 2017 World Athletics Championships.