KINGSTON, Jamaica–Government Senator Abka Fitz-Henley has accused the People’s National Party (PNP) of politicising and misleading the Jamaican people on the Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL) fraud matter.

Fitz-Henley, in a statement on Monday, doubled down on comments he made at a Jamaica Labour Party Area Council 1 meeting on Sunday, pointing fingers at the PNP for not taking any action to protect investors while major fraud was rampant at SSL in 2012/2013.

The senator argued that the Financial Services Commission (FSC) had cautioned the PNP against certain actions at SSL and issued directives concerning the acquisition of assets without prior approval on or about July 17 and August 9, 2012, and again in 2013.

He further noted that Dr Peter Phillips, who served as finance minister in 2012, is quoted in the media as saying that although he was aware the FSC had written to SSL and issued certain directives, he cannot recall whether he had been fully briefed on SSL’s precarious financial state.

The senator who was responding to claims made earlier by Opposition Spokesperson on Finance Julian Robinson that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) government eased restrictions placed on SSL has dismissed those allegations as “categorically false.”

“Even as we hope that every single Jamaican who was affected by the SSL fraud is made whole, what I find unfortunate about the entire situation is the PNP’s attempt to bring the name of the iconic Usain Bolt into the political arena in an effort to mislead Jamaicans and to prevent the public from recalling the record, which shows that the majority of his principal investment, 86 per cent of it, was misappropriated during their time in office. This was at a time when they were made aware of significant issues at SSL but failed to protect investors,” Fitz-Henley said.

He cautioned the PNP against using Bolt’s name to conceal what he described as its failure to protect investors when it was warned about rampant impropriety at SSL in 2012/2013.

“Usain, who has given so much to this country and has made Jamaica proud countless times, does not deserve for his name to be exploited by desperate opposition politicians. They are clearly hungry for political power, so much so that they are willing to say anything and use anyone’s name to achieve it,” said Fitz-Henley.

READ: Robinson hits back at Fitz-Henley’s claims that PNP failed to safeguard SSL investors