President Dr. Irfaan Ali has dismissed as “absolute nonsense” the claims made by sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed, that top government officials attempted to blackmail him into backing out of political ambitions. On the sidelines of a Local Content Summit this morning, Ali called the allegations baseless and politically motivated.
Mohamed, who was last year sanctioned by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) along with his father Nazar Mohamed, recently claimed that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and Attorney General Anil Nandlall threatened to seize his luxury vehicles unless he publicly announced that he would not run for office.
On Saturday, agents of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) turned up at Azurddin’s home to seize several luxury vehicles over claims of him owing more than $1.2 billion in taxes through false declarations and re-migrant scheme.
Mohamed described the enforcement action as politically driven. “A month prior to that, Jagdeo and Nandlall told me that they are coming to seize the vehicles if I don’t release a statement that I’m not running for office, so this is political,” he stated.
But when asked about the allegation on the sidelines of the event today, President Ali firmly denied any such attempt was made. “Absolute nonsense. He can say anything,” the President said when asked whether senior officials of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government tried to pressure Mohamed into withdrawing from political aspirations.
Ali further questioned the credibility of Mohamed’s claims in light of the US sanctions. “Let’s be fair, this he said, she said… The U.S. has sanctioned him. The U.S. said he has evaded tax. What do you believe?” he asked.
The President reiterated that the PPP has no need to resort to political intimidation or blackmail to secure electoral victory. “We are going to win this election because we have worked hard, we have delivered, and people love what we’re doing… We stayed true to the trust that the people placed in us when we went to the polls,” Ali said.
President Ali also said he is aware of the “nasty” and “sinful plots” unfolding in the political arena but made it clear his focus remains on governance and serving the Guyanese people. “I am not going to focus on all this noise,” he said.
Moreover, Ali also shifted his attention to the ongoing investigations into the murder of Ricardo “Paper Shorts” Fagundes where claims were made back then that the PPP government was protecting Azruddin who was reportedly fingered in Fangundes killing.
He reminded the media that international assistance was sought to maintain credibility. “We brought in the RSS for independence, we sent an important piece of evidence to the FBI,” he said, adding that further questioning is expected based on feedback from US authorities.
“We are not going to be vindictive. He’s Guyanese, it’s a Guyanese family. We said that due process will follow… there is nothing to hide,” the president noted.
