The SSL Fraud happened because regulators failed in their duty to Jamaica.

I am surprised at how much misinformation people close to SSL are distributing to distract and detour the public from the central issue. And along with the distraction are modified statements and doctored documents/attestation. Meanwhile, people are hurting because somebody has cheated them out of large sums of money. Shame on those trying to distract the public from the SSL fraud scandal.

Now is not the time to hide behind party loyalty and pretend that legitimate criticisms directed at the entity involved are politically motivated. We are dealing with a real issue that would never happen if we had taken appropriate actions when we discovered SSL was not complying with Government regulations. Make no mistake, the SSL Fraud happened because regulators failed in their duty to Jamaica.

Eight days after the SSL fraud story broke, the Observer reported a statement from SSL. It read as follows:

Last Thursday, January 12, 2023, SSL issued a statement saying that it had “become aware of fraudulent activity by a former employee of the company.”
The company said that following initial internal investigations, it “referred the matter to the relevant law enforcement authorities to facilitate a thorough and complete examination of all aspects of the matter.” Added the company. “To ensure this, we have taken steps to secure those assets and strengthened internal protocols to detect suspicious activity in the shortest time possible.” The company also said it would “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.”

Jamaica Observer

Therefore, the statement above debunked those who claimed certain members of the public were trying to destroy the JLP and Prime Minister Andrew Holness. However, the SSL did admit that a fraud orchestrated by a former employee happened. And it never disputed that Usain Bolt had a large sum of money in his account and was one of the victims.

We know that the PM was a client of SSL, but he said he consolidated his account in 2021. We also know SSL was in trouble in 2017 and operated contrary to Government guidelines. Still, the Government allowed it to continue doing business even after the PM consolidated his account.

So all those people who are all up in their feelings because the public spoke up should not forget Jamaica is a Democracy. And in a Democracy, power is in the hands of the people. Also, the PM and all the members of Parliament and Senate work for the people. And because the public rose up, it spurred the Government to propose changes so that what happened at SSL will never happen again.

Hence, from now on, we must allow the chips to fall where they may and call a spade a spade.