2 Jovan Johnson/ Senior Staff Reporter USAIN BOLT has obtained a court order for two banks to disclose the transaction history of accounts owned by Jean-Ann Panton, the only person charged in the $3 billion fraud at Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL). Supreme Court Justice Cresencia Brown Beckford granted the order yesterday, according to Frater Ennis & Gordon, the law firm representing Bolt andWelljen Limited. The Jamaican sports icon opened an account in the name of his holding company, Welljen, at the private investment and brokerage firm in 2012. The law firm declined to comment on the details of the order. The Gleaner will not, at this time, name the two financial institutions that are based in Jamaica. The bank order will bolster a freezing order obtained in February against assets of Panton, a former client relationship manager at SSL. The first order provides for Panton’s assets up to the amount of US$6 million-plus to be frozen. A production order had also been made for Panton to provide a statement of all her assets, real estate holdings, shares, and stocks, among others. Welljen’s account value plummeted from $2 billion (US$12.7 million) in October 2022 to J$1.8 million or US$12,000 in January when he checked after being alerted by Panton, Bolt’s legal team has said. Welljen’s case is being heard together with a suit that investor Jean Forde, 80, filed against SSL and 10 other defendants including Panton and SSL’s founder Hugh Croskery. Forde is alleging that she was defrauded of US$830,000. Welljen’s case is against SSL and Panton. INTERIM INJUNCTION The two matters are scheduled for a next hearing on October 24, 2023. At that time, the judge will consider an application by SSL for Welljen’s case against it to be put on hold until a separate case involving the appointment of an SSL trustee is settled. In April, the Supreme Court granted an interim injunction to regulator the Financial Services Commission (FSC), blocking SSL’s bid to appoint Caydion Campbell as trustee, to control its assets and lead the winding-up of the company. Justice Stephane Jackson-Haisley accepted FSC’s argument that Campbell’s appointment on January 16, one day before it took temporary management of SSL and appointed a temporary manager “will have serious repercussions” for clients. “There is a serious issue to be tried and … the claimant (FSC) has a real prospect of success in the claim,” the judge said, adding later that “the balance of convenience weighs heavily in favour or the grant of the injunction”. SSL and Campbell are seeking to appeal that decision, claiming that the judge made numerous errors; that Campbell was properly appointed and that the FSC has no basis or right to bring the claim, among other things. “The court has to consider the parties that are affected by this order. SSL is a company that has investors. There are parties … who have sued SSL and are actively pursuing judgments. This is going on while the claims validation exercise, that only the trustee can perform, is not under way. So if there is judgment entered on any of claims identified, that will crystallise their claimwithout validation,”argued King’s Counsel Caroline Hay in the appeal court on Monday. Hay is representing SSL and Campbell. A three-judge panel will hand down a ruling tomorrow that will indicate whether SSL and Campbell can continue their quest for an appeal. CROSKERY REFUTES PANTON ASSERTION Meanwhile, Croskery has said he “strongly refutes”a“belated assertion” from Panton, who has alleged that he made her an “offer” for her January 7, 2023 confession. She admitted to stealing about $700 million belonging to 39 clients. Welljen was not among them. “The said offer was an inducement and the statement would not have been made otherwise,” Panton said in document filed in the suit brought by Forde. Panton said she made the statement in the presence of attorney Tamika Harris, who no longer represents her. Harris has declined to comment on the development. Bolt gets court order This file photo shows Jean-Ann Panton being assisted into a Jamaica Constabulary Force vehicle to depart the Supreme Court on Friday, February 17, 2023. GLADSTONE TAYLOR moya.thomas@gleanerjm.com Moya Thomas THE MONTHLY GLEANER | JUNE 1 - JULY 5, 2023 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS THE LIKELIHOOD of a moderate hurricane season this year is welcome news for the Caribbean. But as the experts have warned, that possibility is no reason for the region to let its guard down. The very phenomenon – El Niño conditions – that might contribute to fewer hurricanes could help to fuel more ferocious ones. And as The University of the West Indies’ Global Institute for Climate-Smart and Resilient Development (UWI GICSRD) and the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) warned in their joint statement last week: “...It only takes one hurricane or storm to cause immense economic setbacks to an impacted country, and sometimes the entire region.” Furthermore, El Niño is generally associated with drier, hotter conditions, including prolonged drought, such as Jamaica is currently experiencing. That could become worse if this El Niño is entrenched. Jamaica’s authorities, therefore, must simultaneously plan for the mitigation of storm and the impact of drought, while preparing to help vulnerable people cope with the effects of heatwaves. The annual Atlantic hurricane season runs from the start of June to the end of November, when weather phenomena that begin off the coast of Africa may cross the Atlantic and develop into storms and hurricanes that are sometimes devastating to the Caribbean. WARMER WATERS This year, forecasters at America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center expect a“near normal”season. There is a 40 per cent chance that events will fall in that range, and a 30 per cent possibility that there will be fewer storms than normal. The forecasters also gave a 30 per cent chance to things being above normal, with storms exceeding the average amount for the season. NOAA’s prediction is for between 12 and 17 named storms, or those with winds of 39 miles per hour (mph) or above. Of these storms, about five are expected to become hurricanes – storms with wind speeds of 74 mph or higher. Between one and four of the hurricanes are forecast to go beyond Category Two events, thereby having wind speeds of over 111 mph. “The upcoming Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be less active than recent years, due to competing factors – some that suppress storm development and some that fuel it – driving this year’s overall forecast for a near-normal season,” NOAA said in its forecast. The major difference this year is the likely return of El Niño, after three years of La Niña when the waters of the Pacific were cooler. “La Niña ended inMarch and the ocean temperatures in the Pacific, both at the surface and a few hundred metres below, are warming so quickly that many major atmospheric centres globally are not only warning of emerging El Niño conditions, but suggesting it may be a ‘significant’event,” said UWI GICSRD and CIMH in their statement. El Niño events are often associated with hot, and often very dry spells in the Caribbean. However, a warmer Caribbean Sea may eject more moisture in the air, lending to the conditions for storms, thus adding to the uncertainty about this year’s hurricane season. “In addition to contributing to very hot days and nights and more heatwaves, the very warm Caribbean Sea may provide windows of opportunity for a very strong hurricane to develop, notwithstanding El Niño’s dampening effect,” the research institutions said. SUPPORT FOR THE VULNERABLE As usual, we expect the Jamaican authorities, especially the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, to be prepared for all eventualities. Hopefully, drains, especially those in flood-prone areas, have been cleaned, to lessen the chance of catastrophic flooding should significant weather events develop. Shelters must also be prepared and ready. But the possibility of heatwaves adds another layer to the preparation to be ready to support at-risk people. This must be placed on the Government’s agenda. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted serious physical and psychological vulnerabilities among Jamaica’s elderly, many of whom live in marginal circumstances with little support. At the height of the pandemic, the health ministry announced a community-basedmental health/service support corps for older people. It is not clear, with the receding of COVID-19, if this scheme has been sustained. If it was not, it should be reactivated. If it still exists, it should be widened and strengthened to include support for people who may be vulnerable to the effects of heatwaves. They must benefit from regular, organised outreach. Given the prospect of a prolonged drought, we remind the administration of the good sense of mandating water-harvesting capabilities in all new major real estate developments and multi-family complexes. Merely rationing water in dry times is not sufficient. Preparing for El Niño EDITORIAL USAIN BOLT
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