Attorney cautions against "rush to judgment" after police charge three former SSL executives

Three former executives linked to the scandal-hit investment firm, Stocks & Securities Limited - SSL - have now been charged following coordinated raids at their homes yesterday, among them its former director.

The three are former director Hugh Croskery, former Montego Bay branch manager Sarah Meany, and ex-CEO Zachary Harding.

They have each been charged with multiple counts of fraudulently inducing persons to invest money, failure to register a company doing business in Jamaica, carrying out securities business without dealer's licence, failure to apply to the Commission to be registered for securities issued and breach of the Banking Services Act.

Each has been offered station bail in the sum of J$1 million and is to appear before the court on January 26, 2026.

Peter Champagnie, one of the attorneys representing Mr. Croskery,  is urging the public not to rush to judgement, stressing that his client “has consistently maintained his innocence and has always made himself available to all of the regulatory bodies that are involved in this matter.”

On Saturday, members of the security forces and the Financial Investigations Division conducted search-and-seizure operations at the homes of the three.

The operations targeted four premises - three in St Andrew and one in St James - as part of the long-running probe into the multi-billion dollar fraud at SSL.

The fraud scandal first came to public attention in January 2023.

Saturrday's development marked the first major public law-enforcement steps in the SSL case in more than a year.

Former SSL employee Jean-Ann Panton, was charged with multiple offences in February 2023.

In December 2023, the Financial Investigations Division submitted a case file to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, signaling the possibility of further charges.

The DPP has since indicated that outstanding issues remain, which have affected the assessment of the file.

Welljen Limited, a company owned by sports legend Usain Bolt, is among more than 200 affected clients of SSL.