Jean-Ann Panton being helped from a vehicle to a wheelchair on Friday.
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Attorney Tamika Harris
By Racquel Porter
Tamika Harris, the attorney representing former Stocks & Securities Limited wealth adviser Jean-Ann Panton, is to provide an additional medical report to the Supreme Court for a decision to be made on whether her client will be offered bail.
Ms Panton, who made her first appearance in the Supreme Court this morning, was remanded until February 24, following a bail application by her attorney.
She is charged with three counts of larceny as a servant, five counts of forgery, five counts of uttering forged documents, three counts of falsification of an account, three counts of engaging in a criminal transaction, and three counts of breaching the Cybercrimes Act.
In response to the attorney's bail application this afternoon, Justice Lorna Shelly Williams noted that one basis on which bail is being requested is that Ms Panton requires care that cannot be adequately provided while in custody.
But Justice Shelly Williams said she was not minded to offer Ms Panton bail because the medical report supplied to the court was lacking.
During the bail application, Ms Harris submitted that Ms Panton is unable to walk or stand due to dislocated hip, but the medical report did not support this claim.
Ms Harris, who spoke with Radio Jamaica News, said the court indicated that the medical report only spoke to the disability as it is currently, but did not provide a history of the ailment or whether it would persist.
Money taken from Welljen
Earlier in today's proceedings, Jean-Ann Panton admitted to withdrawing funds from Welljen's portfolio, the company owned by Olympic champion Usain Bolt.
She is accused of fleecing US$10 million and J$90 million. This amount is exclusive of Welljen's account.
The theft was uncovered last December, when the first complainant on the indictment requested a printout of his account information.
The court was told that the complainant had invested US$30,000 but when he requested a printout, the account had a zero balance.
The court was also told that Ms Panton confessed to stealing money for SSL because the company was in financial distress.
Another complainant, who shares an account with his son who invested $22 million, made a similar request and was informed that only US$79 remained in the account.
When a supervisor confronted Ms Panton, she reportedly said, "It is what is".
She also admitted to stealing more than US$5 million from SSL.
The prosecution disclosed that only seven of the 39 people listed on the affidavit in which Ms Panton confessed to fleecing accounts have come forward.
Ms Panton's confession at that time did not include Welljen's account.
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