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JAM | Feb 16, 2025

Zachary Harding, Lamar Harris had nothing to do with Usain Bolt’s missing SSL funds and should not be castigated

Al Edwards

Al Edwards / Our Today

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Reading Time: 5 minutes

I have been in the news business in Jamaica for over twenty years now and during that time have gotten to know and make friends with many business personalities.

The business community here is small and reputations are everything which does lead to heightened sensitivity on the desimenation of information.

Over the years I have gotten to know Zachary Harding and Lamar Harris. Both have held the position of heading the brokerage house Stocks & Securities Limited (SSL) founded by Hugh Croskery. They are decent, honourable people who have never engaged in activity that has sullied their names and reputations.

As long as I have known them they have always been transparent and forthcoming. They had nothing to do with Bolt’s missing money.

While they headed SSL it was audited across their tenures by BDO, KPMG and Baker Tilly and nothing untoward was red-flagged. These are world-renowned audit firms. Why didn’t they pick this up? What is the function of an audit?   

While Harding and Lamar were there all external audits were passed. Any problems were addressed and dealt with.

Zachary Harding. (Photo: Facebook @GlobalBusinessWeek)

They were in constant dialogue with the FSC and, in some instances, the government regulator threatened to shut down SSL.

Any significant sums of money that could not be reconciled would have been alerted. The sums may have gotten to SSL but not credited to the account. SSL is not a deposit-taking institution. This is an important point to note here. The investment is made through third parties.

SSL was always a regulated entity, regulated like other brokerage houses. The Government has acted objectively in the matter by hiring globally recognised forensic investigations. It immediately moved to have eternal support so there could be no accusation of bias by local entities.

The world’s most successful track star Usain Bolt is said to have invested funds with SSL of which US$12.7 million has gone missing. It has been two years now, and Bolt has been unable to recover his money.

This has incensed many Jamaicans and accusatory fingers are being pointed.

Last week, Usain Bolt was the guest on ‘The Fix’ podcast and addressed the situation which saw him defrauded out of his money. To date he has been silent on the matter, mindful not to embarrass his country or have it come off as prone to criminality and shadiness. Given what transpired he said he has to be particularly vigilant when dealing with Jamaican financial institutions.

Retired sprint legend Usain Bolt speaking on the SSL fraud scandal on popular Jamaican podcast series ‘The Fix’ which premiered online on February 10, 2025. (Photo: Youtube @TheFixJA)

What the track legend had to say has stirred a hornet’s nest and questions are again being asked. How was this allowed to happen? Where were the regulators here? How come both the internal and external auditors have come away from this without having to explain their lapses?  How come management let theft and fraud take place under its watch?

We are now in the digital age which is supposed to mean a leap in advancement, things being made easier, instead in Jamaica we are seeing more fraud, more scamming, more breaches.

CEOs have to take their management team members at their word and assume they have integrity and adhere to the highest professional standards. They can’t presume they preside over a den of thieves.

Harding and Harris have consistently said they had nothing to do with Bolt’s missing funds and were unaware of the level of skullduggery. They should not be castigated.

This entire episode has made their lives a living hell. Zachary Harding has made numerous media appearances to explain his position, despite his efforts, members of his family have received a number of threats.

Lamar Harris is a lady of high integrity, always gracious, always helpful. This sorry affair has brought nothing but misery to her family. It has also impacted her career leading to her now focusing on the United States market and going into business for herself. She was blamed for SSL’s clients missing funds when she wasn’t even working there at the time the aforementioned crime took place. It’s a headache she doesn’t need.

Former SSL chief executive, Lamar Harris. (Photo: Facebook @ssljamaica)

You get the picture—their reputations should not be sullied. We do hope Usain Bolt does get restitution. He was defrauded and this has made Jamaica’s financial sector look terrible and untrustworthy.

 It is inaccurate to say SSL was insolvent at the time.

Bolt opened the account in April 2012 so this matter has endured for well over a decade. Neither Harding nor Harris were at SSL when Bolt opened the account. Jean Ann Panton opened the account and Bolt’s people have said she was the only one managing the account.

 As stated in an affidavit after an internal investigation was done with Jean-Ann Panton in 2022  she confessed and admitted to defrauding 40 accounts but said nothing about Bolt’s account. 

After she confessed and did not mention Bolt’s name she visited Bolt’s team office to ask for financial help to pay back  the sums defrauded. This has been reported in the press.

It was then that the management team asked her about the status of Bolt’s account (Welljen). Usain Bolt was never a signatory on Welljen’s account. He was never listed as a director of that company. 

Therefore how could the senior management team have known that Usain Bolt was involved here? The case becomes curiouser and curiouser.

Panton disclosed to Bolt’s team that there was only US$12,000 in the account. It was then that Bolt’s team went to SSL and asked for a statement. SSL produced a statement which showed he only had US$12,000 in the account and it was SSL who reported the matter to the FSC.

Jean-Ann Panton, former wealth advisor at SSL.

The question that must be asked is why then did Jean Panton after robbing Bolt go to his team and ask them for help. There is a lot more to this that is currently in the public domain.

The Bolt incident has made these relatively young business leaders pariahs in their own home country and has curtailed their opportunities and that is both unfair and unjust.

Anytime this Bolt/SSL scandal gets inflamed, Harding and Harris’ names become maligned. It’s a real shame.

There have been cases of fraud and missing funds at both NCB and Sagicor and it would be spurious to blame or impugn Michael Lee-Chin and Chris Zacca in these cases. So why put Harding and Lamar’s feet to the fire? 

Let’s be kind, let’s be fair. Put yourself in their place.

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