The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) will launch an investigation into allegations raised against customs officers in a recent report by the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). On Tuesday, OFAC’s announced that sanctions were imposed on Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed, along with their business entities, for their involvement in corrupt activities. Additionally, Mae Thomas, a government official serving as the Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Labour, was also sanctioned for complicity in these activities.
The OFAC report alleged that customs officers accepted bribes to manipulate import and export documents on behalf of one of Guyana’s prominent families, the Mohameds.
GRA’s Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia while refraining from commenting on the agency’s work or taxpayers due to confidentiality rules, expressed concern over the alleged involvement of customs officers and affirmed the necessity of thorough investigation. Statia said, “It is concerning about the alleged involvement of customs officers, which certainly must be investigated.”
Additionally, the OFAC report detailed how the Mohameds exploited Guyana’s gold industry by evading taxes through under-declaration of gold exports and falsification of import and export documents.
It was revealed that between 2019 and 2023, Mohamed’s Enterprise omitted over 10 thousand kilograms of gold from declarations, avoiding payment of more than US$50 million in duty taxes to the Government of Guyana (GoG). The family allegedly bribed customs officials to facilitate illicit gold shipments and falsify documents.
The government, in response to the report, affirmed its commitment to cooperate with relevant United States entities and stated that local agencies would seek additional information to assist local law enforcement efforts. Thomas was promptly placed on leave pending further investigation.
“The Government of Guyana takes very seriously the claims contained in the press release and will continue to engage relevant United States entities on these matters,” it was stated.
