Millions stolen fromUsain Bolt

[Davidokun]

Usain Bolt fires business manager over Jamaica fraud case

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt told reporters Friday that he is baffled over how $12.7 million of his money has gone missing from a local private investment firm that authorities are investigating as part of a massive fraud that began more than a decade ago.

Bolt also said he has fired his business manager, adding that it was not an amicable split.

When asked if he was “broke,” the retired star athlete laughed.

“I’m not broke, but it’s definitely put a damper on me,” he said. “It was for my future. Everybody knows I have three kids. I’m still looking out for my parents, and I still want to live very well.”

[18.99s]

Bolt is "among 20 clients facing losses of millions...in local and US currencies."

So, that means the American feds, as well as Jamaican authorities, could take a look at this. I know the FDIC insures banks in the US. But dumb question: is US money in a foreign land, earned by a foreign citizen, subject to US protections, regulations, particularly if the two countries have good relations with each other?

The USA is getting involved!

https://trackalerts.com/usain-bolts-attorney-warns-of-expected-and-unexpected-developments-in-ssl-legal-demand/

The Minister also disclosed that the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other overseas forensic auditors will assist local law enforcement agencies in their probe.

[18.99s]

Interesting.....!

"Borrowed"! 🤣😂

That firm is a systemic clusterfrack of failures at all levels. A management failure, a regulatory failure, and even a customer failure for letting so much of their money sit there without checking it regularly (unless the firm's insiders were fudging the numbers to make it look like the correct amounts were still in the accounts).

[einnod23]

'continued to take money for various purposes' and she 'may not be the only one involved in stealing funds from the investment firm.' Poof, its gone.

Wondering if she actually did use it for her father's medical or brother's psychiatric expenses.....!

[schigh]

Interesting.....!

https://www.blackenterprise.com/employee-at-usain-bolt-investment-firm-borrowed-funds-from-clients/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&fbclid=IwAR2pMbBV04E060ry I-XQyslgMDAKIDSqDRFtFnb3EciRtQCl1vOk8RZD7Nw

'continued to take money for various purposes' and she 'may not be the only one involved in stealing funds from the investment firm.' Poof, its gone.

[einnod23]

Interesting.....!

https://www.blackenterprise.com/employee-at-usain-bolt-investment-firm-borrowed-funds-from-clients/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&fbclid=IwAR2pMbBV04E060ry I-XQyslgMDAKIDSqDRFtFnb3EciRtQCl1vOk8RZD7Nw

[18.99s]

NBC Sports posted an article about it, with some specific numbers:

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2023/01/18/usain-bolt-money-millions-dollars-ssl-jamaica/

In the letter to Stocks and Securities Ltd. (SSL), an attorney wrote that Bolt’s account with SSL had $12,750,181.74 on Oct. 31, 2022. The balance is now $12,047.65, but Bolt has not made a withdrawal or transfer.

That they're quoting the October amount instead of December or early January suggests that neither Bolt nor his advisors were looking at the account regularly. Not even once a month.

[jazzcyclist]

Bolt is "among 20 clients facing losses of millions...in local and US currencies."

So, that means the American feds, as well as Jamaican authorities, could take a look at this. I know the FDIC insures banks in the US. But dumb question: is US money in a foreign land, earned by a foreign citizen, subject to US protections, regulations, particularly if the two countries have good relations with each other? Now, common sense tells me if Bolt was Russian, and the entity was in Moscow.....that's a big "too bad, bro!"

The FDIC only covers American banks. The SIPC covers American investment and brokerage firms but only up to $500,000..

[18.99s]

Bolt is "among 20 clients facing losses of millions...in local and US currencies."

So, that means the American feds, as well as Jamaican authorities, could take a look at this. I know the FDIC insures banks in the US. But dumb question: is US money in a foreign land, earned by a foreign citizen, subject to US protections, regulations, particularly if the two countries have good relations with each other? Now, common sense tells me if Bolt was Russian, and the entity was in Moscow.....that's a big "too bad, bro!"

It was an investment firm, so presumably the money was in the form of investment instruments like stocks, bonds, and/or mutual funds, not US currency per se. But the US-currency denominated instruments may have included US-issued stocks/funds/bonds/treasuries, possibly held in a US investment bank on behalf of the Jamaican firm, so that could be one reason for the US authorities to get involved.

[einnod23]

Bolt is "among 20 clients facing losses of millions...in local and US currencies."

So, that means the American feds, as well as Jamaican authorities, could take a look at this. I know the FDIC insures banks in the US. But dumb question: is US money in a foreign land, earned by a foreign citizen, subject to US protections, regulations, particularly if the two countries have good relations with each other? Now, common sense tells me if Bolt was Russian, and the entity was in Moscow.....that's a big "too bad, bro!"

[The Klingon]

This is what happens when you trust people, Hey, trust everybody, but before they deal, "cut the damn cards".

[18.99s]

The investment firm which lost the money has been problematic for years. I bet the regulators didn't tell the customers that.

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/...five-years-ago (long article)

Stocks & Securities Limited (SSL) was flagged in 2017 by staff of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) for a “culture of non-compliance and mismanagement of client funds”, a systemic concern that may alarm investors as the company now grapples with billion-dollar fraud.

Earlier this week, the regulators assumed control of the firm (temporarily):

https://nationwideradiojm.com/fsc-assumes-temporary-management-of-ssl-amid-multi-million-dollar-fraud-scandal/

[18.99s]

After the 2008 banking crash and the Madoff scam, anybody who still keeps 80-100% of their wealth in one institution when they don't have to is playing with fire. I hope the amount he had in that place was less than 1/3 of his liquid net worth. At his level of wealth, his assets should be diversified not only across multiple institutions, but also multiple countries.

I split up my funds all over the place. Savings and checking accounts at multiple banks, a credit union account, 401k and multiple IRAs, a brokerage account, and iBonds. No fraudster at any one place can wipe me out.

[jazzcyclist]

I'm so paranoid about being hacked that I do a lot of stuff the old-fashioned way in hopes that it will reduce the hacking opportunities for crooks. I reluctantly pay some of my bills online, but I never save my payment information, I don't have a debit card, I don't have an ATM card and I never do any financial business on my phone.

[18.99s]

Worth keeping some perspective here. Bolt earned well over $100 million during his career, and current net worth in excess of $50 million. While the $12 million in this particular investment account is a bit more than pocket change to him losing it will hardly leave him destitute.

It's possible the $12M is all he had left. It's not unheard of for athletes who made $100M over their career to end up with a lot less than $12M a few years after they retire. Some even go bankrupt.

But he still has endorsement income rolling in, probably over $1M/year, so it's true he won't be anywhere near destitute even if the $12M was everything he had.