In a damning revelation, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has exposed an alleged scheme orchestrated by one of Guyana’s wealthiest families, the Mohameds, where it allegedly evaded the payment of over US$50 million in taxes on gold. It is also accused of bribing customs and government officials to ensure an undisrupted flow of their criminal operations.
Today, OFAC levied sanctions against, Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed, along with their enterprise, Mohamed’s Enterprise, for their involvement in a web of corruption. Government official Mae Thomas, was also sanctioned for her complicity.
The OFAC’s findings shed light on the Mohameds’ exploitation of Guyana’s gold industry, where they evaded taxes through under-declaration of gold exports and falsification of import and export documents.
It was stated, “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 US$50 million in duty taxes to the Government of Guyana.”
The Mohameds’ reportedly bribed customs officials to falsify import and export documents, as well as to facilitate illicit gold shipments.
This revelation comes on the heels of Vice President (VP) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, expressing serious concern over the consistent decline in gold declarations over the past five years. At his last press conference Jagdeo warned of strict penalties for those found guilty of under-reporting gold declarations to evade taxes and royalties.
“Mohamed’s Enterprise had paid bribes to Guyanese government officials to ensure the undisrupted flow of inbound and outbound personnel that move currency and other items on behalf of Azruddin and Mohamed’s Enterprise,” OFAC stated.
Of particular concern is the involvement of government official Mae Thomas for her complicity in the Mohameds’ activities. It was stated that Thomas abuse her position to facilitate bribery schemes and manipulate procurement processes.
It is alleged that while as Permanent Secretary (PS) at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Thomas used her position to offer benefits to Mohamed’s Enterprise and Azruddin, among others, in exchange for cash payments and high-value gifts.
OFAC said, “Thomas misused her position to influence the award of official contract bids and the approval processes for weapons permits and passports on behalf of Mohamed’s Enterprise.”
Moreover, the Government of Guyana, while acknowledging the allegations, has taken steps to investigate and address the situation, including placing Thomas on leave.
On April 8, 2023, Thomas was detained by US Immigration officials at Miami International Airport. Subsequently, her US visa was revoked on the 10th April, 2023.
