Jean-Ann Panton further remanded in SSL fraud case

Jean-Ann Panton, the lone accused in the multibillion-dollar fraud investigation at Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL), was today further remanded until May 27 next year.

The former SSL client relationship manager is facing a 22-count indictment charging her with forgery, larceny as a servant, and engaging in a transaction involving criminal property.

Today when the matter was called up in the Home Circuit Court, the prosecution informed that the case file was complete.

The report from the police's Communication Forensics and Cybercrime Division and compact disc discovery, which were outstanding, were disclosed to the defence.

The court also heard that the prosecution completed disclosure to the defence electronically.

Panton's lawyer, Sylvester Hemmings, acknowledged receipt of the documents but noted that he is not finished going through them, and as a result, has not taken further instructions from his client.

Asked how much time he needed, Hemmings indicated three months.

Hence, a May date was scheduled to facilitate further instructions and assessment of the documents and for the continuation of the plea and case management hearing.

Panton, who appeared remotely, was further remanded.

According to a signed statement made to SSL dated January 7, 2023, Panton admitted that she “used various mechanisms to take money from clients” and that she “created false statements to provide to the clients reflecting what they should have in their accounts and not the sum they actually had in their accounts”.

She added that she took the money “over the course of several years”.

The statement, which was part of an internal SSL investigation, named 39 clients whose accounts had a total value of over $700 million.

Panton said she took approximately 20 per cent of that sum, in addition to another $109 million.

An account in the name of Welljen Limited, a holding company owned by sports great Usain Bolt, was not mentioned on the list, and SSL said in a subsequent statement that it was unaware that the portfolio had been affected.

The retired 100m world record holder opened an account at SSL in the name of his holding company, Welljen, in 2012.

The account's value plummeted from J$2 billion (US$12.7 million) in October 2022 to J$1.8 million, or US$12,000, in January this year when the fraud was uncovered.

Bolt has not recovered any money, his legal team has said.

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