Home News US sanctions on Guyanese trio: Govt awaits evidence from US to determine...
Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn on Friday stated that the Guyana Government is awaiting the evidence from United States authorities concerning allegations against the businessmen Nazar Mohamed and his son Azruddin Mohamed, along with former Permanent Secretary Mae Thomas, to determine the way forward.
He stated that no plans are afoot to revoke the firearms license of Mohamed’s Enterprise and its sister companies at this time.
This follows the United States Treasury Department sanctions, which have caused the Bank of Guyana to revoke the company’s Cambio license and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission to revoke the gold dealing operations. When asked by the media on Friday if the company’s firearms will be next in line to be revoked, Benn related that the government will be cautious about doing such.
Benn emphasised the importance of making informed and practical decisions.
“We will make decisions based on information that we have…we have to be careful to make practical responses to issues. It couldn’t be, in any event, while reviews are ongoing, we don’t precipitate actions that will put people at risk,” Benn told reporters.
The Bank of Guyana revoked Mohameds Enterprises’ foreign exchange (Cambio) license on June 13, and the Guyana Gold Board stopped accepting gold from the company due to the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions.
OFAC has accused Mohameds Enterprises and Guyanese Government official, Mae Thomas of defrauding Guyana of over US$50 million in taxes on more than 10,000 kilograms of exported gold.
Following, the sanctions, Thomas was sent on leave and she has since resigned from the leadership of the governing People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C).
In this light, Benn stated that Guyana has requested mutual legal assistance from the US and is awaiting further information.
“…so we’ll await for further information on whatever the issue is. I have signed a document that has gone to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the instance of the Attorney General, Minister Anil Nandlall…the documents will go to Washington. We will make decisions based on the information we have…”, the minister explained.
In a related move, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo assured that the government is committed to investigating the allegations thoroughly.
The Guyana Government said it continues to monitor the situation closely, ensuring that all actions taken are in the country’s best interest and in compliance with international legal standards.
Only on Tuesday, Attorney General, Anil Nandlall said that the Government has sent the correspondence to the US requesting the evidence that led to the imposition of sanctions.
“I dispatched under my hand, as advised by the US Department of Justice, the requisite requests for information, statements, evidence, depositions, documents or other exhibits relating to the publication by the US Treasury in respect of the sanctions imposed on Nazar Mohamed, Azruddin Mohamed, Mohamed’s Enterprise and Mae Thomas as well the designated entities of Hadi’s world and Team Mohamed’s team,” he noted during his Tuesday evening programme ‘Issues in the News.’
In a statement on June 11, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it sanctioned the Mohameds, their company, Mohamed’s Enterprise, and a Guyanese Government official, Mae Thomas, for their roles in alleged public corruption in Guyana. The statement referred to the evasion of taxes on gold exports noting that between 2019 and 2023, Mohamed’s Enterprise omitted more than 10 thousand kilograms of gold from import and export declarations and avoided paying more than $50 million in duty taxes to the Government of Guyana.
Subsequently, Nazar Mohamed resigned as a Councillor for the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) while Thomas left from her post of Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Local Government and also as a member of the party.
Even as the government awaits feedback from the US, all government agencies have stopped conducting business with the Mohameds and their related companies.
The investigation into the Mohamed family and their businesses has been ongoing for several years. (G9)
