Parliamentarians have no immunity – Jagdeo warns Azruddin Mohamed

…says US-sanctioned man will not be allowed to disrupt lives of Guyanese

General Secretary (GS) of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, has issued a firm warning that Azruddin Mohamed will not be allowed to destabilise the country following his party’s rise to Parliament.
With the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) collapsing to third place under Aubrey Norton’s leadership, the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, headed by US-sanctioned Mohamed, is now poised to become the main parliamentary Opposition.
Jagdeo, however, stressed that the PPP/Civic Government will not tolerate any attempts to derail peace and stability.
“Everybody wants free and fair elections; they want the rules of the game to be clear; people had a fair chance to contest; the results are known, whether they supported the PPP or APNU or wherever else they want to continue their lives. The people have spoken; the electorate have spoken…. Azruddin Mohamed will not be allowed to disrupt the lives of our people if he has such an intention,” Jagdeo said on Thursday during a press conference.

“We have tens of thousands of people who have to go out every day to earn a living; they need a peaceful Guyana to have that happen. They need to take their children to school; they want a peaceful Guyana. They want to make sure that they can go out and enjoy leisure activity peacefully and safely, and we’re taking that responsibility as a Government seriously,” Jagdeo said.
Based on the results of Monday’s General and Regional Elections, the influence of APNU – of which the People’s National Congress (PNC) is the main party – in the next Parliament would be weakened.
The main parliamentary Opposition will now comprise the WIN party headed by the US-sanctioned businessman.
PNC was formed in 1957 by Forbes Burnham, who was later elected leader – a position he would retain until his death in 1985. It later rebranded itself as the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and then again as the APNU after coalescing with other smaller political parties.
Since its inception, the party has been a strong political force – forming the Government as recently as the 2015-2020 period, in a coalition with the Alliance For Change (AFC).
In the last Parliament, the APNU and AFC occupied 31 seats in the National Assembly, forming the main parliamentary Opposition. Of these, the AFC itself occupied nine of those seats, while the remaining 22 were held by APNU politicians.

No immunity
During his weekly press conference on Thursday, Jagdeo also explained that while WIN has garnered a decent amount of support during this year’s election, primarily securing support from the electorate in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) – an APNU stronghold – he reminded that entry into the National Assembly could not shield him from legal challenges or prosecution for criminal offences.
With this in mind, the GS made it unequivocally clear that Guyana’s Constitution offers no immunity to parliamentarians from criminal prosecution.
“But a point that I made before still stands. That if any individual feels that a parliamentary position will cause them to avoid accountability for criminal acts, then that parliamentarian is suffering from a severe case of delusion. First of all, our Parliament doesn’t offer, as I said before, immunity to parliamentarians from criminal acts. And two, that a lot of what had to be put on hold because of the campaign, evidence of criminality because of the campaign and the feeling that if you pursue individuals for their criminal acts who are running for office, it would be seen as victimisation by the State or the ruling party, that no longer applies once the elections are over,” he said.
The GS reminded that during his own tenure as Opposition Leader, he was not immune from scrutiny, citing the arrests of senior party figures and his own questioning by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).
“The evidence of criminal behaviour will now have to be presented to the right fora, which are our courts and everything else, and our tax authorities, so that they can continue to do their work professionally and diligently and without fear of any criticism that they are treating people preferentially. So, I’m sure as Azruddin Mohamed wouldn’t want preferential treatment from the Police because as opposition leader you have to have, if he decides he wants to go for that, you have to have equality before the law. I remember as opposition leader, I’m not saying he will be, but if he decides that, that’s their decision to make. SOCU came to my office; you remember they arrested Roger Luncheon,” he explained.

OFAC sanction
In 2024, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against Nazar Mohamed, his son Azruddin Mohamed, several of their companies, and Guyanese Government official Mae Thomas for their alleged involvement in public corruption in Guyana. According to a statement from OFAC, this is related to the evasion of taxes on gold exports, noting that between 2019 and 2023, Mohamed’s Enterprise omitted more than 10 thousand kilograms (kg) of gold from import and export declarations and avoided paying more than US$50 million in duty taxes to the Government of Guyana.

Maduro puppet
On June 30, United States (US) Congressman Carlos Giménez had also raised concerns over what he describes as Venezuela’s attempt to influence internal affairs in Guyana, specifically through a controversial figure. Giménez stated, “In the US Congress we are alarmed by the regime in Venezuela’s attempt to undermine Guyana through its pro-Maduro puppet candidate Azruddin Mohamed, who is sanctioned by OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control).”
Subsequently, US Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar cautioned that “We remain deeply concerned about efforts to undermine democracy in Guyana. As a strategic ally of the United States, Guyana deserves leaders who respect democratic values. Individuals sanctioned for illicit activities must not be allowed to jeopardise this vital relationship.” Venezuela currently does not have an active extradition treaty with the US. Historically, the country has considered extradition requests on a case-by-case basis, weighing factors such as reciprocity and the interests of justice. However, this approach is not governed by a formal, treaty-based framework.
President Irfaan Ali had previously explained that the US-sanctioned businessman is a risk and a threat to Guyana’s financial stability, sovereignty and diplomacy.

Local tax evasion
Further, Mohamed is currently before the local court charged with allegedly fraudulently under-declaring the value of a Lamborghini Aventador, which is currently at the centre of the dispute between him and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The US Department of Justice (DOJ), under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), provided an original invoice for the Lamborghini Aventador, which was billed to Azruddin Mohamed himself, to the tune of US$695,000.
However, in his previous declarations to the court, Mohamed claimed to have spent US$76,000 on the luxury car. A difference of some US$619,000.
In April, GRA officials, backed by police, attempted to seize several luxury vehicles – including a Lamborghini Roadster, Ferrari, Rolls Royce, and Land Cruisers – from the Mohamed’s residence in Houston, Greater Georgetown. The operation was aborted after a hostile crowd, reportedly paid by Mohamed, blocked access to the premises. GRA has said that the vehicles were imported under the re-migrant scheme but failed to meet key requirements, including residency status and proper declaration of value. The total tax liability in the matter is estimated at nearly $900 million. Among the outstanding amounts are $479.7 million for a 2020 Ferrari registered to Hana Mohamed, $371.7 million for the Lamborghini tied to Azruddin Mohamed, $320 million for a 2023 Rolls Royce registered to Bibi Mohamed, and additional millions linked to a Range Rover and Toyota Land Cruisers under various family names.