Usain Bolt suffers a $10 million loss due to a fraudulent scheme
Usain Bolt, an eight-time gold medallist in the Olympics, is said to have lost close to $10 million in retirement funds as a result of a fraudulent investment scam in Jamaica.
Jamaica Observer reports that the sprinting great found out about the disappearance of his money just days before news broke of a $1.2 billion fraud scheme at Stocks and Securities Limited. In addition to Bolt, over 30 other people have allegedly fallen prey to a wealth advisor at SSL’s hands.
In a statement released last Thursday, SSL reportedly said “Last Thursday SSL issued a statement saying that it had ‘become aware of fraudulent activity by a former employee of the company’”. This was according to a story by The Observer.
The business also promised to ‘continue to liaise and cooperate fully with law enforcement throughout this investigation and ensure that the responsible party faces the full consequence of the law.’
According to Bolt, SSL knew about the scam in August, but the employee accused of carrying it out was still working for the firm as recently as Wednesday, when Bolt’s representatives met with SSL. In December, after discovering a problem with Bolt’s investments, his team reached out to SSL to request a meeting.
Bolt deposited just under $10 million into an SSL account in 2012 and promptly forgot about it. As a result of the scam, he supposedly still has two thousand dollars in his bank account.