Skatta Burrell On Usain Bolt’s SSL Case: “Taking People’s Hard Earned Income Must Not Be Exalted Nor Celebrated”

Dancehall producer Skatta Burrell has called for Jamaicans to desist from glorifying scamming and the theft of other people’s property, especially in light of track icon Usain Bolt reportedly falling victim to embezzlers.

The Downsound producer’s comments have come in light of the news that Bolt had reportedly been fleeced of approximately US$10 million (J$1.5 billion), which he had invested at Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL).

Skatta shared a video post from Dancehall artist Cham calling for the return of Bolt’s funds and intervention from Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Finance Minister Dr. Nigel Clarke, and revealed how ashamed he was about the entire fiasco.

“Jamaicans been celebrating the Choppa lifestyle of late so I wonder how We feel now that one of our greatest Patriots Who’ve done the impossible via hard work, commitment and dedication to make this entire Nation proud is now a victim to this kinda theft?” Skatta wrote.

“We really need to reset our minds and understand that taking People’s hard earn income is nothing to be exalted nor celebrated. I join Cham and others and hope Usain will get His funds returned. I nuh tek the money and I feel ashamed to know I live amongst People who have no morals whatsoever.🔥🔥🔥🔥 #justicforusainbolt Now!!!” the Coolie Dance producer added.

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IG followers were mainly in agreement with Skatta.  One of them immediately made reference to the lyrics of many of the songs being released in Jamaica by popular artistes in which scamming is glorified with impunity.

“Change the tone of the music, even corporate people I see dancing to choppa songs at parties and carrying on wild. Music is a very powerful tool as such we Must be guided by its use,” worldbigs1998 said.

In July last year, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn had raised concerns about Jamaican Trap artistes glorifying scamming in their songs, during her keynote address at an anti-fraud seminar in Kingston.

The DPP had made it clear that the lyrics which give pride of place to the criminal schemes, had not escaped her attention, especially since they were influencing many young people to take on the self-destructive ‘choppa’ lifestyle.

The Jamaican Trap subgenre, which is rooted in US Trap and UK Drill, has been overwhelmingly flooded with choppa songs, made popular by entertainers such as Squash who has songs like Bandulu, and Gold Gad, who, while he has argued that his scamming songs are done solely for humour, has a long list of tracks such as  Chap Life, Client Convo, , Quarantine Chap, and F*ck You MOCA, in which he mocks the anti-organised-crime agency.

Llewellyn, had also expressed concern that not only were many Jamaican youth shunning legitimate employment for lotto scamming, but that women and entire households were getting involved in the illicit activity.

In using the parish of Westmoreland as an example, Llewellyn had said that of the 110 new matters listed for the Easter Sitting of the Circuit Court there back then, approximately 80 (73%) were for charges of possession of identity information used in scamming.

Usain Bolt is not the only prominent Jamaican who has become a victim of embezzlement in recent times.

In June last year, Queen of Reggae Marcia Griffiths recently fell victim to a fraudster, after she was scammed of almost $5 million in a bogus real estate deal, by the man, who had been released from prison weeks before, after serving nearly 12 years for fraud.

The man had initially approached the Fire Burning artist in June 2021 and offered her a “deal” to build a museum in her honour, and subsequently collected US$30,000 and J$250,000 from the Reggae songstress as payment for a property.

Under the deal, the accused man said he and his partners could lend Griffiths US$500,000 to purchase a property, but she would have to pay US$30,000 plus J$250,000 for fees and stamp duty, according to court documents filed by the police.

Griffiths had reportedly called the police after she discovered that she had been defrauded by the man.   He was subsequently charged with obtaining money by means of false pretense.  He later pleaded guilty to the offences.