Zachary Harding, former CEO of Jamaican investment house Stocks and Securities Limited, yesterday (December 27) submitted himself to the Financial Investigations Division (FID) for questioning over the disappearance of funds lodged there by investors.

Over J$3 billion went missing from 200 accounts, which cost the country over J$750 million to unravel and wrap up SSL.

It has been widely reported that sprint legend Usain Bolt had millions of US dollars go missing from an account in the name of ‘Welljen Limited’, opened in 2012 at SSL for his retirement.

This does not mean or imply that Zachary Harding conspired or engaged in any illegal or criminal activity surrounding the missing funds.

Yesterday, FID made it known that Hugh Croskery, Sarah Meany, and Zachary Harding were wanted for questioning in the biggest financial scandals to take place in Jamaica for decades, with investors’ money gone missing with no explanation.

Usain Bolt made it known he too was a victim of skullduggery and was none the wiser as to what took place.

This was a blow to the reputation of Jamaica’s financial sector, with questions raised about governance and compliance. Both the United States and British law enforcement agencies were brought in to uncover what transpired. 

Before yesterday’s swoop, the only person charged in this sorry affair has been SSL client relationship manager Jean-Ann Panton, who faces a 22-count indictment including forgery.

Harding now faces charges under the Larceny Act, the Bank of Jamaica Act and the Banking Services Act. He was granted bail.

Founder and executive chairman of Delta Capital, Harding has maintained for quite some time now that he knew nothing about the missing funds at SSL or Bolt’s account there.

He has had a varied career, once serving as a marketing executive at GraceKennedy, going on to head the Butch Stewart-founded company Appliance Traders Limited (ATL) and holding a seat on JAMPRO’s board. He served as CEO of SSL from September 2019 to June 2022.

The SSL scandal came to the public’s attention in January 2023.

As to the SSL imbroglio, Harding said in an interview with the media, “I have nothing to hide. My heart is clear, and my conscience is free. During my time as CEO at SSL, Usain Bolt’s name never came up as a customer of SSL. He was never mentioned in any management meeting, in any strategy meeting, in any client review meeting.”

Former Scotland Yard officer Sean Harris, speaking to Our Today from Manchester, England, said: “I don’t think Harding was complicit in stealing funds or engaged in duping investors out of their money. He was perhaps lax, careless, unprofessional, and non-compliant. They have him up for failure to register a company, carrying on a securities business without a dealer’s licence, breaches under the Banking Services Act. He should have been on top of all the required regulations. It shows his naivety as a banker and financial services operator.

“It’s hard to see where he goes from here and whether he still has a future in the financial sector.”

Both Croskery (who founded SSL) and Harding are ardent supporters of the JLP administration and it is expected that the Government will be looking to distance itself from them and their entreaties for help in getting out of this sticky situation.

For decades, no worthy financial services operator has paid the price for financial misdemeanours. These arrests now put the sector on notice and send a message that no one is immune from the law. Investors should not have to suffer for investing in firms that are derelict in their duties. SSL had a history of failing to file audited accounts in a timely fashion.

What now for Zachary Harding? He must be forthcoming and do his utmost to clear his name. His situation is precarious, and he needs to be exonerated before he can establish credibility. 

The SSL scandal has sparked discussion about the reliability of the companies operating in Jamaica’s financial sector.

The FID had uncovered at SSL “an entrenched culture of gross mismanagement dating back well over a decade.”