“She’s too ill for jail,” Attorney of the woman alleged to have stolen Usain Bolt’s money declares her unfit for jail
The accused in Usain Bolt financial fraud case has sought bale on medical grounds.
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Usain Bolt has recently been the victim of the latest financial fraud scheme, which saw him lose $12 million. Bolt had secured the account with Jamaican investment firm Stocks and Securities Limited, registered under his business’ name.
According to The Jamaica Observer, one of the SSL Client relationship managers, Jean-Ann Panton, allegedly stole funds from the former Jamaican sprinter’s account. The employee stole from the firm for over ten years and had given various reasons to justify the same.
The Jamaican authorities arrested Panton on February 17, 2023, on charges of forgery, larceny as a servant, uttering forged documents, and breaching the Proceeds of Crime Act. Panton also agreed to have stolen $3 million from clients’ accounts, as revealed in meetings with the Financial Investigations Division detectives and the Jamaica Constable Force’s Fraud Squad. She has been stealing from Bolt’s account since it opened in 2012.
Panton showed up in a wheelchair to the Jamaican Supreme Court at Kingston, and her attorney Tamika Harris has applied for bail on medical grounds. The attorney claimed that her client was born with a dislocated hip and had to undergo 25 surgeries since age 2.
Jean-Ann Panton, accused of stealing Usain Bolt’s funds, seeks bail on medical grounds
The accused Jean-Ann Panton showed up for her trial at the Supreme Court in Kingston in a wheelchair. The accused’s attorney says, “She requires wheelchair assistance and the use of a walker as part of her rehabilitation. And she has also had side effects from the antibiotics prescribed which makes balancing challenging.”
However, this medical claim was unconvincing for Judge Shelly Williams to review this case. She questioned the legitimacy of Panton’s medical documents as they only stated the accused was having diabetes and her last surgery date. However, there was no mention of the inability to walk.
Justice Williams comments, “I am not saying that you can’t put forward all of this. But if you are going to do that you need a medical report that supports your position. And it can hardly be said that the environment in a cell would be sterile.”
Justice Williams is particularly concerned about whether the environment in the cell would be suitable enough for Panton to sterilize her insulin shots, which are administered regularly. The sterilization also requires refrigeration, which Justice Williams believes is hard to find in prison facilities.
The accused Panton has another chance to appeal for her bail on February 24. The Financial Investigations Division is looking to put additional charges on Panton and the others involved in this serious case of defrauding.
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Usain Bolt’s millions of dollars reportedly go missing from accounts
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Siddid Dey Purkayastha
(528 Articles Published)