“When I go to the prison, what I see her eating, I wouldn’t give my cats,” defence attorney Sylvester Hemmings told a Jamaican court on July 15, describing the meals served to his client, Jean Ann Panton.
The remark came at a short hearing before Supreme Court Judge Justice Simone Wolfe Reece, according to the Jamaica Gleaner. Panton is the only person charged over the multibillion-dollar fraud at Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL). The judge set a timetable for a second try at bail, and a new trial date.
A written bail bid
Justice Wolfe Reece ordered that the renewed application be made in writing. The defence has until the end of September to file its submissions. The Crown must answer by the end of October. Both sides return on December 10, when the bail question will be heard together with a trial readiness hearing.
The trial itself is now set to start on February 10, 2027. An earlier date of May 4, 2026 was vacated.
Panton was remanded until her next appearance. She came to court in a wheelchair, the Gleaner reported, and seemed to be in good spirits, taking notes as the matter was dealt with.
Complaint about prison food
Hemmings used the hearing to raise conditions at the women’s correctional facility where Panton is held. Prison authorities, he said, have stopped relatives from bringing food in for inmates. He argued that this hurts his client, who he said has a deteriorating medical condition and depends on a special diet that her family used to supply.
The judge asked whether he had approached the prison authorities to learn the reason for the policy and whether some accommodation could be arranged. Hemmings said he had not yet done so.
The case
Panton has been in custody since February 2023. A former client relations manager at SSL, she faces a 22-count indictment. The charges are forgery, larceny as a servant, and transactions involving criminal property.
The fraud became public in January 2023, after several clients reported large losses in their investment accounts. One of them was sprint legend Usain Bolt. An account in the name of Welljen Limited, a company he owns, reportedly fell from about J$2 billion (US$12.7 million) in October 2022 to roughly J$1.8 million (US$12,000) by the time the fraud was uncovered. His legal team says he has not recovered any of the money.
