Usain Bolt fraudster allegedly asked him for loan to repay victims, according to reports
Usain Bolt, the fastest man on Earth, has had a tough few weeks after nearly $12.7 million was stolen from his Stocks & Securities Ltd (SSL) account. It was uncovered to be a massively scaled fraud that has affected more than 30 other individuals.
The story takes a new turn as SSL, the Jamaican financial firm, has placed the blame on a single employee who recently confessed to the crime but denied taking money from Bolt's account. In an emailed statement, SSL now claims that Bolt’s management approached the firm to report that an SSL employee had walked into their office and confessed to stealing Bolt's money on January 11. In addition to confessing, she allegedly asked Bolt's management for a loan to repay other victims of the fraud. SSL refused to identify the employee alleged to have done this.
The emailed statement mentioned that despite defrauding the Olympian, she:
"Apparently still believed that she could borrow the money from the Bolt management group to repay the other SSL clients."
SSL formed a disciplinary panel to deal with the situation and recommended that the employee be immediately dismissed for:
"negligence and gross incompetence."
Usain Bolt reacts to losing $12.7 million in the SSL fraud
The fraud saw the former sprinter lose a huge sum of $12.7 million that left his SSL account, intended to fund himself and his parents, with a mere $12,000. While he did not take this lightly, Bolt still laughed in an interview, saying he's "not broke".
The Olympian was recently announced as the ambassador for the 50th Gibson McCook Relays. He addressed the situation during the launch:
"I just want to say to Jamaica that no matter what’s going on right now, Jamaica is my country and it will never change. I will always love my country and always do everything in my power to uplift this country no matter what’s going on."
Taking a few questions from reporters after the speech, Bolt admitted that the situation was indeed stressful and that he wishes to stay calm throughout:
"It's tough you know, but I think through the years I've competed, it has helped me to understand and focus on what matters ... I will leave the matter in my lawyer's hands and focus on my family, try not to think too much about it because it's a stressful situation ..."
The scandal rattled Jamaica and has been the biggest news to come out of the country for a long time. With nearly 40 big investors affected, various Jamaican investigative departments and the FBI are looking into the matter to try and gain an absolute understanding of the events that led to the defraudment.