Opposition urges gov’t to get international help in SSL drama

Opposition Spokesperson on Finance and Public Service, Julian Robinson, is calling on the government to seek “international forensic expertise” to aid local law enforcement in the case surrounding the fraud hit investment firm, Stocks and Securities Ltd. (SSL)

He is also calling on the Auditor General to conduct a special audit of the operations of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) following what he says is a lack of “appropriate regulatory enforcement measures given SSL’s history of serious breaches.”

“The Opposition's call comes against the background of the apparent inaction of the FSC in addressing issues at Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL) after its own damning report of 2017 which highlighted widespread breaches and irregularities at SSL,” Robinson said.

SSL continues to be at the centre of local, and international news, after it was reported that over $1 billion dollars had been defrauded from customers of the company, including sprint legend Usain Bolt.

The FSC has since taken an enhanced oversight of the company SSL following the allegations, but has since come under fire for what Robinson, and others say are a lack of effective action from the institution.

According to Robinson, international help must be sought with haste to aid law enforcement agencies such as MOCA and the FID who are investigating the SSL fraud.

“This must be done now to ensure that funds stolen from customers of SSL can be traced and recovered from wherever they may be, and to restore the reputation of Jamaica’s financial sector which has been tarnished by the massive and prolonged fraud at SSL,” he said.

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