Sports
Olympic Champion, Usain Bolt Loses $12 million To Hackers
Usain Bolt, the reigning Olympic sprinting champion from Jamaica, lost $12 million on Thursday due to hackers accessing his account with Stocks and Security Limited, a financial institution.
The lawyers for the racing star stated they are prepared to file a lawsuit if doing so will allow them to recoup the lost funds that inexplicably vanished from Bolt’s account.
According to a statement from Bolt’s lawyers, it read, “The account was part of Bolt’s retirement and lifetime savings.
“It’s distressing news for anyone, and certainly in the case of Mr Bolt, who established this account as part of his private pension,” Gordon said on Wednesday.
“We will be going to court with the matter” if the company does not return the funds,” his lawyer, Linton P. Gordon, told Fortune magazine over the phone.
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“It is a grave disappointment, and we are hoping that the matter will be resolved in a way that Mr Bolt will recover his money and be able to live in peace,” he added.
In response to the development, Stocks and Securities Ltd stated in a statement on January 12 that it had informed law authorities of the fraudulent activities by a former employee.
It added that it had tightened standards and taken steps to secure consumers’ assets.
The “alleged fraudulent operations at SSL that are reported to have affected the accounts of Mr. Usain Bolt and other individuals” are being investigated, according to a second statement made on Monday by the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
Meanwhile, On Tuesday night, Jamaica’s Finance Minister Nigel Clarke claimed that SSL had committed “alarming and evil fraud” and promised to “bring all perpetrators to justice.”
The Associated Press reported that Mr Bolt’s account with the company was created to act as a pension for both of his parents and the eight-time Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter.