‘SSL had no legs’

The lone accused in the multibillion-dollar fraud investigation at Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL), Jean Ann Panton, is pushing for access to the Kroll audit report to use as part of her defence in the trial slated for May 4 next year.

Panton’s legal team, which is requesting disclosure of the document, along with the other report prepared by the Financial Services Commission, as well as other internal and external audits, has been instructed by the court to put its request in writing to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The Kroll report was done by the United Kingdom forensic auditors Kroll Associates at the request of the Government for the SSL investigation. It was submitted in November 2023.

During a plea and case management hearing in the Home Circuit Court on March 20, before Justice Vinette Graham Allen, attorney-at-law Sylvester Hemmings expressed concerns about the disclosure of certain documents, including the Kroll report. The prosecution, however, indicated that it has made full disclosure of all the documents that it intends to rely on and is ready to proceed to trial.

The judge, before scheduling the date for trial, ordered Hemmings to write a letter to the DPP, detailing the documents that he is requesting.

The case, which will be tried by a jury, will involve some 20 witnesses.

A July 28, 2025 date was also scheduled for Panton to renew her bail application. The former SSL client relations manager, who has been in custody since February 2023, was last denied bail in April 2023.

Panton, who faces a 22-count indictment, including charges of forgery, larceny as a servant, and engaging in transactions involving criminal property, was further remanded.

Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Hemmings said the defence had requested the report from the DPP about six weeks ago, but was told that it did not have the report, and, as a result, renewed the request at the last hearing.

“We are of the view that this matter goes way beyond what my client has stated [in her since recanted confession]. I don’t know if she had been just pushed into it as a cover-up,” he said.

“We’ve indicated to the court that this discovery will be ongoing, because we’re finding that one stone, as it were, leads to another one. When you raise an issue, when you examine certain things, we are finding other things popping up because this a paper trail, a financial institution; all at once we can’t really see the picture. But the picture that we are getting is that this is an institution that had no legs,” he said.

Asked what is the significance of the Kroll report, Hemmings said, “We believe that if the Kroll report is auditing the finances or the financial affairs of the company, then the report must locate and trace monies that came in and monies that went out, and by what means. And, in any event, they must give some form of opinion, in addition to what they may find. Empirically, they should also have their own particular opinion, as all auditors do.”

In the meantime, Hemmings believes the case against his client is very weak and is primarily built on her confession she collected money. The lawyer said the prosecution has no other evidence that she collected monies.

Meanwhile, DPP Paula Llewellyn, who is not a prosecutor in the matter, said her office is yet to receive the letter from Hemmings, but noted that the Kroll report does not form any part of the prosecution’s case.

At the same time, she said, the defence can request a material that it requires through the prosecution even though it does not form any part of the prosecution’s case, and the prosecution will try to find the material.

“But when we source it, we have to see what it is, if it will affect any other part of the investigation that is ongoing. We may have to redact it, but we don’t know, we have not seen it, so we don’t know,” Llewellyn said.

“At no time was it ever in our custody, at no time did we use it to prepare our indictment,” she emphasised. “We had an abundance of other materials in our possession, minus that report, that allowed them to prepare an indictment.”

She also acknowledged that Hemmings had written to her office in February asking about the report, but was told that it was not in the prosecution’s possession.

In the meantime, public interest in the case remains high, particularly following sprint legend Usain Bolt’s public criticisms of the Government’s handling of the alleged $4-billion fraud.

The authorities have confirmed that Bolt’s company, Welljen, was among 200 affected SSL clients, with at least an estimated US$6.2 million (J$950 million) missing from the company’s accounts.

Llewellyn has previously cautioned against excessive public discourse on the matter, warning that pre-trial publicity could affect the fairness of the proceedings.

A trial readiness hearing is scheduled for November 13, 2025.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com