A Pastor Counselled the Adviser Who Confessed. His Sermon Turned to Noble Causes and “Forbidden Fruit”

• Rev Dr Devon Dick told Boulevard Baptist Church he had counselled a woman who defrauded a financial institution
• She is a former wealth adviser at Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL), whose relatives worship at the church
• The SSL fraud involved dozens of account holders; Usain Bolt lost US$12.7 million
• Dick asked whether good intentions could ever justify wrongful means

The Rev Dr Devon Dick, pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church, used his Sunday sermon to reveal that he had counselled a woman in December who confessed to defrauding a financial institution of a significant sum. The Gleaner reported that the woman is a former wealth adviser at Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL), and that members of her family are long-time worshippers at the church.

The case sits within an alleged $3-billion fraud at SSL involving dozens of account holders. Track and field star Usain Bolt was among those affected, losing US$12.7 million. According to a sworn affidavit cited in the report, the former employee confessed to taking clients’ money to help relatives, including her ailing father, a former police chaplain who has since died, and her brother. How the fraud was carried out remained unclear.

In his sermon, Dick reflected on what he had been told about how men and women commit financial crime, saying that when a woman defrauds a financial institution it is usually “for a noble cause”. He then asked whether noble intentions could ever justify wrongful means, drawing on Psalm 34:8 and warning against reaching for “forbidden fruit” however reasonable it may seem.

The elderly mother of the former adviser, an educator, was present at the service. Contacted afterwards, she declined to comment beyond a line of scripture: “God is my refuge and strength.”

For Jamaicans at home and in the diaspora who hand their savings to investment firms, often to fund a house, a plot of land or retirement, the SSL case is a sharp reminder that trust in an adviser is not a substitute for checks. Ask for regular independent statements, confirm that your holdings are held in your own name with a regulated custodian, and question returns or transfers you did not authorise. Churches have long preached honest stewardship; this case shows how quickly misplaced trust can wipe out money meant for property and long-term security.

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