Several government agencies mixed up in the SSL saga including the National Housing Trust (NHT).

 Psssst! Come ere! Come ere nuh man! Yuh nuh hear weh mi hear?! Seh govament agency did tek public money a invess inna SSL! 

Yes mi dear! A dat a gwaan pon wat a gwaan! 

Suh weh really a gwaan a jam down eeh? Weh yuh a tell mi seh? Suh di govament tek peepul hard earn money weh dem pay over inna taxes an guh gi dem SSL peepul deh weh luk like dem tief Usain Bolt money and other investors? 👀 Like fi real?? Mi cyaa believe it! Cyan yuu? 

Well peepul is truu! Luk ere:

Public bodies invested with SSL:

1. National Health Fund - JMD $740 million
2. National Housing Trust - JMD $238.8 million
3. National Insurance Fund - JMD $8.4 million
4. Jamaica Agricultural Society - JMD $8.9 million
5. Jamaica Banana Catastrophe Fund - JMD $98,000

NHT building at Ruthven Road, Kingston.

These figures were obtained from a Jamaica Gleaner social media post. As you can see several government agencies had invested the public's purse in the embattled company.  As you can see, the National Housing Trust, the agency responsible for helping poor Jamaicans attain proper housing at reasonable prices, currently holds JMD $238 million in their account. 

Here's a press release by the company, dated January 24, 2023, about the matter:

In the release, the National Housing Trust (NHT) stated that SSL formed "part of a pool of brokerage institutions used by the NHT to purchase shares/stocks on the Equity Market." It also noted that the current statement on the account was verified on January 16, 2023. The NHT therefore...

"...does not consider its investment in these three securites, held through the brokerage account as exposed or in any way compromised."

It does sound good, right? Bear in mind however, that as of October 2022, Mr. Bolt received a statement from SSL which said his account was over USD $12 million and that was a lie. I think the NHT and other government agencies better make sure the money is really there.  

Then late Tuesday afternoon (January 24, 2023), Prime Minister Andrew Holness also released a statement to refute claims that he had borrowed any money from the company.

PM Andrew Holness:

"I have no funds currently with SSL and I have not done any business with SSL since September 2021. I wish to also make it clear that neither I, nor any member of my family, have ever borrowed from SSL or received any form of credit facility from SSL."

So yes, PM Holness at one point in time had an account with SSL but closed it after September 2021... and by the way neither he or any of his family members borrowed money from them. He went further to note that because of these allegations of fraud, the public must be assured that the political class has no conflict of interest with the financial sector.

PM Holness:

"These current allegations of fraud at SSL and the international attention it has drawn to our Financial Sector requires a commitment to the highest level of transparency, probity and accountability. The public must be assured that the political class has no 'conflict of interest' that would prevent, delay or dilute efforts to ensure that the truth of the allegations is uncovered, those responsible are held to account and the victims receive justice." 

Well peepul weh unnu tink? Dis yah one yah a real drama!

Stay tuned folks. It's getting hotter by the day!