US report applauds Guyana’s money laundering crackdown

…urges tighter grip on gold trade, procurement

A report released by the United States (US) State Department, has highlighted Guyana’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) efforts when it comes to prosecuting money laundering offences, though it also urged stricter enforcement in areas such as the gold trade.

According to the 2025 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) Volume II report, dealing with money laundering, there have been visible efforts by Guyana’s authorities, to prosecute money laundering offences committed by both public and private individuals.
The cases mentioned included that of Former Assistant Police Commissioner Calvin Brutus, who was once a contender for the post of Police Commissioner, but who, along with his wife Adonika Aulder and co-accused, Kevin George, are jointly facing over 260 fraud-related charges.
These charges reportedly stem from financial misconduct involving falsified claims, transactions, and alleged abuse of public funds. Investigators allege that they perpetrated an elaborate scheme that began to unravel in late 2023, after suspicious financial activity was flagged and an internal probe uncovered various financial irregularities.
“Investigations revealed the commissioner held over $17,400 (3.8 million Guyanese dollars (GYD) in assets – including nearly $11,000 (2.4 million GYD) held in several accounts in his and family members’ names, and $6,400 (1.4 million GYD) in properties and other physical assets. As of November 2024, he was charged with 231 offences, including charges of money laundering,” the INCSR report noted.
Another case cited by the report was that of Saffee Ahmad, called ‘Chillo’, 58; Shameena Ahamad, 52; and Ashiana Salamalay, 33, all of Roraima Scheme at Versailles, West Bank Demerara (WBD); and Ian Jacobis, 44, of Plantation Best, West Coast Demerara (WCD), who were arraigned last year on money laundering charges instituted by the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU).
“In July 2024, Guyana’s Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) charged four persons with money laundering for attempting to smuggle approximately 240 ounces of virtually pure gold (valued at over $560,000) disguised as silver-plated jewelry without having the necessary permits. The prosecution is ongoing,” the report stated.
The report acknowledged that over the last two years, Guyana has significantly reduced the structuring and flipping by users of money and value transfer services (MVTS), through which illicit money enters the formal system. It also acknowledged that Guyana’s money laundering risk was evaluated by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).
At the same time, the report noted that risks and vulnerabilities still exist, and claimed that most money laundering cases are not pursued. Among the recommendations made were stricter enforcement in high-risk sectors like gold export, as well as more pursuit of asset forfeiture by going after money launderers.
The report has meanwhile received some pushback from local authorities, particularly since Guyana has consistently been rated highly for its work combating money laundering.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC. in his most recent ‘Issues in the News’ broadcast, had questioned some of the findings in the report.
Nandlall recalled the fourth round Mutual Evaluation that was done between 2022 and 2024, with anti-money laundering experts spending time in Guyana and investigating the state of Guyana’s Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework.
“The United States of America itself is a member of CFATF. And they were present and participated in the exercise, where Guyana’s AML/CFT framework was laid bare. And the report, we had to defend the report. And at the end of that process, Guyana came out with excellent evaluations. In fact, Guyana did better than almost every independent Caribbean state, in the fourth-round mutual evaluation process,” he said.
Guyana had received plaudits last year for the strides it had taken in its Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance, which was recognized by CFATF during its on-site visits. According to Nandlall, it is CFATF that should be making pronouncements on countries and their compliance with AML/CFT.
“That is why we say CFATF is the authorized agency to express opinions and pass judgements, on matters of an AML/CFT nature. And with the greatest of respect to the state department, that is not their function or responsibility. As a matter of fact, I don’t know what criteria they are using, to make the conclusions that they have made.”
“It is public knowledge that from 2022 to about 2024, Guyana underwent an 18-month mutual evaluation examination and assessment, where every aspect of Guyana’s financial structure, every aspect of its AML/CFT regime, its legislation, its public and private sector apparatus, its banking sector and all its law enforcement agencies, were the subject of scrutiny in this exercise,” Nandlall further added.