Usain Bolt fires business manager who lost him $12 million in alleged fraud case
Topics: News
Gregory Robinson
Featured Image Credit: dpa picture alliance/ SPP Sport Press Photo. / Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: News
Usain Bolt has fired his business manager amid an investigation into how a huge chunk of money went missing in an alleged fraud case.
The retired sprinter said he is confused over how his millions vanished from a local private investment firm that authorities are now investigating.
Bolt told reporters that the split from his business manager was not amicable.
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The Jamaican athlete said although he isn’t ‘broke’ after losing the money, he still has to look out for his three children and parents as well as his pension.
Bolt’s attorneys claimed that the eight-time Olympic gold medalist’s account with Kingston-based Stocks and Securities Limited shrunk from nearly $12.8 million to some $12,000.
They had given the company until Friday (27 January) to return the missing funds or face civil and criminal action.
It is unclear if action has been taken as of Saturday.
UNILAD has contacted Bolt’s solicitor, Linton P. Gordon, for comment.
Gordon previously spoke with the Jamaica Observer newspaper about Bolt’s missing millions and warned that the public should foresee the ‘expected and the unexpected’.
“There is nothing to say at this stage, given what is happening,” he was quoted as saying. “We have met with persons, and we are dealing with certain matters.”
Jamaica’s finance minister, Nigel Clark, called the situation alarming.
“It is tempting to doubt our financial institutions, but I would ask that we don’t paint an entire hard working industry with the brush of a few very dishonest individuals,” he said.
Bolt, 36, isn’t the only person affected by the alleged fraud as several government agencies and elderly customers have lost money. Officials have yet to confirm how many clients overall were affected and how much money is missing.
Jamaican Finance Minister, Nigel Clarke, said the director of the Financial Services Commission was stepping down. The Bank of Jamaica will now be in charge of regulating the financial system.
Stocks and Securities Limited contacted authorities earlier in January to alert them that a manager had apparently committed fraud.
In a statement shared on 12 January, the company said it had become aware of the alleged fraud and had taken steps to secure assets and strengthen protocols.
Earlier this week, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness confirmed that his administration would not bail out Stocks and Securities Limited.
“The government will not socialize any debt, and we will not socialize the failure of our banks," he said.
UNILAD has reached out to Stocks and Securities Limited for comment.