STOCKS & SECURITIES LIMITED: ARRESTS, CHARGES; AND THE ILLUSION OF ACCOUNTABILITY - Richard Hugh Blackford

After nearly three years of silence, the Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL) fraud saga is back in the headlines. But Jamaicans should be careful not to confuse movement with meaningful justice.

Over the weekend, authorities arrested SSL founder Hugh Croskery, his daughter Sarah Meany, and former CEO Zachary Harding, laying more than a dozen charges tied to the collapse of the investment firm linked to losses of roughly Ja$3 billion, including over US$2 million reportedly belonging to retired Jamaican sprinter and triple World Record holder, Usain Bolt. The big problem with all of these sensational headlines though is that the charges laid against the individuals don’t match the crime.

“After three years, Jamaicans are being offered administrative breaches for a multibillion-dollar collapse.”

WHAT THE CHARGES ACTUALLY SAY

The accused face allegations under the Securities Act, Banking Services Act, Bank of Jamaica Act, and Larceny Act, including:

• Carrying on a securities business without a dealer’s license

• Failure to register a company carrying on business in Jamaica

• Failure to apply to the Financial Services Commission (FSC)

• Fraudulently inducing persons to invest.

To the uninitiated, these are serious on paper, but in practice they carry limited penalties; small fines and modest prison exposure compared to the scale of the losses. When scrutinized carefully it all comes down to the fact that “Ja$3 billion went missing, but the legal consequences on the table look closer to Ja$3 million.”

WHAT'S STILL MISSING FROM THE CASE

What Jamaicans still have not seen:

• A clear explanation of where the money went

• Evidence of criminal conspiracy at the executive level

• Charges that reflect grand larceny or complex financial fraud

• Any sign that senior decision-makers face real prison time.

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Instead, bail has been granted, passports surrendered, and court dates set; procedural steps that create optics, not closure.

“Arrests create headlines. Convictions create justice. Jamaica has a long gap between the two.”

WHY SSL INVESTORS WERE SO EXPOSED

While the Jamaican press has been quick to bite into the hook thrown by the system, they all fail to provide a critical but often often overlooked fact:

SSL was not a bank. It was not covered by Jamaica’s deposit insurance scheme, which protects customers of commercial banks, merchant banks, and building societies regulated by the Bank of Jamaica. SSL investors carried 100% of the risk. This critical fact makes regulatory oversight; not just individual wrongdoing—a central issue in this scandal.

“This wasn’t just a private failure. It was a regulatory one.”

ISN'T THIS A CASE ALREADY BEING QUIETLY CLOSED?

Even as criminal charges crawl forward, SSL’s remaining assets are being corralled and partially distributed to victims. That signals that the financial clean-up phase is already underway, regardless of whether meaningful criminal accountability follows. This particular development raises a disturbing question:

“If restitution is being wrapped up, are the arrests simply the closing act of a long performance?”

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

Jamaica has struggled; historically and consistently, to prosecute complex white-collar crime. The country's legal and prosecutorial history is littered with lengthy investigations which often end with diluted charges, delayed trials, and quiet conclusions. It is my observation that this SSL case risks becoming just another entry on that list. After all, “Justice delayed is bad. Justice diluted is worse.”

WHAT JAMAICANS SHOULD WATCH FOR NEXT

My assessment is that we should forget the headlines and watch out for:

• Upgraded charges that reflect the scale of the alleged fraud

• Clear money trails and named beneficiaries

• Courtroom progress, not just press releases

• Regulatory reform, not silence

  
  

Until these things happen, Jamaicans are right to ask whether this latest chapter is about justice; or simply about managing public anger. For if this is accountability, it’s a very small answer to a very big crime.” Richard Hugh Blackford is a Jamaican-born writer, visual artist, cultural & social commentator.