Defence to file written bail bid for Jean Ann Panton as SSL fraud trial date confirmed

Former Stocks and Securities Limited wealth adviser Jean Ann Panton is preparing another bid for bail more than two years after she was remanded in custody.

Attorney Sylvester Hemmings signalled the move during a case management session in the Supreme Court on Thursday. Justice Simone Wolfe-Reece, however, directed that the renewed application be submitted in writing. She set a deadline of late September for the defence to file its submissions, with the Crown required to respond by the end of October.

Panton has remained behind bars since February 2023, when Justice Lorna Shelly-Williams refused bail, citing the gravity of the charges she faces.

In April that year, her legal team filed an affidavit supporting a fresh bail request in which Panton said she had suffered a stroke and at least two seizures while detained. Justice Vinette Graham-Allen rejected that application after a medical officer who examined her reported finding no evidence that she had suffered a stroke in custody.

The court has now fixed 1 February as the trial date after an earlier May listing was vacated. A trial readiness hearing is scheduled for 10 December.

During Thursday's session, Hemmings raised concerns about conditions at the women's correctional facility where Panton is held. He told the court that authorities had suspended the long-standing practice of allowing relatives to bring food for inmates, a change he said had harmed his client, who he described as having a worsening medical condition that previously required a special diet supplied by her family. Hemmings said he would not give his cats what he saw her eating during a visit.

Justice Wolfe-Reece asked whether he had contacted prison officials to learn why the policy changed and whether accommodation could be made for his client. Hemmings said he had not yet done so.

Panton faces a 22-count indictment alleging forgery, larceny as a servant, and engaging in a transaction involving criminal property.

The case forms part of the wider SSL investment scandal, in which several clients reported major losses. Jamaican sprint icon Usain Bolt was among those affected. An account held in the name of Welljen Limited, a company owned by Bolt, reportedly fell from roughly $2 billion in October 2022 to about $1.8 million by the time the fraud came to light.