BPM Financial Limited has dragged a former senior employee and nine alleged accomplices before the Commercial Division of Jamaica’s Supreme Court, insisting that roughly JMD $100 million vanished from client accounts under their watch.
Filed on 30 April 2025 (Claim SU2025 CD00472), the suit paints a picture of an organised siphoning of customer funds between August 2023 and September 2024. The statement of claim targets:
- Primary defendant: a one-time manager whom BPM says occupied a “position of trust.”
- Four additional insiders: accused of aiding the extraction.
- Five alleged beneficiaries: facing restitution demands for proceeds they purportedly received.
BPM’s legal team hinges its case on three pillars: systematic theft, breach of fiduciary and contractual duty, and deliberate collusion. The company wants every dollar repaid—plus damages.
Managing Director Peta-Rose Hall signed the claim and, when reached by our newsroom, declined substantive comment, citing the live proceedings. Attempts to confirm whether any of the defendants have filed a defence—or a counter-punch—went unanswered.
Oversight Questions Linger
Despite queries lodged since October 2024, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) has stayed silent. Its reticence rekindles debate over the regulator’s vigilance during the alleged fraud window—a sector now steering JMD $1.78 trillion in assets through Jamaica’s financial pipes.
The timing is awkward: by next year Jamaica shifts to a “twin-peaks” oversight model—Bank of Jamaica taking prudential reins while the FSC pivots to market-conduct policing. Critics argue this transition only heightens the need for rapid, transparent enforcement action.
Echoes of SSL
The BPM saga lands less than two years after the Stocks & Securities Limited (SSL) scandal, where more than JMD $3 billion evaporated from some 200 customer accounts—including funds tied to sprint legend Usain Bolt. To date, only ex-employee Jean-Ann Panton sits in custody, her trial slated for May 2026.
Industry Fraud Still Under-reported
Regulations compel licensed institutions to disclose fraud incidents. Yet insiders acknowledge a different playbook: negotiate repayment quietly, accept a resignation, and keep regulators—and the public—largely in the dark.
The Bank of Jamaica’s last Financial Stability Report flagged JMD $1.73 billion in banking-sector fraud up to March 2023. By contrast, the FSC’s most recent public annual report (2020-2021) omitted fraud figures altogether.
Whether BPM’s courtroom push signals a shift toward greater transparency—or merely exposes the next chapter in Jamaica’s fight against white-collar crime—remains to be seen.
