US sanctions corrupt actors in Guyana

USA / GUYANA – The United States is imposing sanctions today on Nazar Mohamed, his son, Azruddin Mohamed, their company, Mohamed’s Enterprise, and Mae Thomas, the former permanent secretary to Guyana’s minister of home affairs and current permanent secretary to the ministry of labour, for their roles in public corruption in Guyana.

“We are also designating two entities, Hadi’s World and Team Mohamed’s Racing Team, for being owned or controlled by Mohamed’s Enterprise and Azruddin, respectively,” the US Department of State said in a press statement on June 11, 2024. “Between 2019 and 2023, Mohamed’s Enterprise omitted more than 10,000 kilograms of gold from import and export declarations and avoided paying more than $50 million in duty taxes to the government of Guyana.”

The statement continued:

“To perpetuate and conceal this scheme, Mohamed’s Enterprise engaged in extensive bribery of government officials. This activity served to enrich the corrupt actors involved, undermine Guyanese institutions, and deprive the people of Guyana of important revenues.

“Also sanctioned today, Mae Thomas misused her position as permanent secretary to the Guyana minister of home affairs from October 2020-August 2023 to offer benefits to Mohamed’s Enterprise and Azruddin in exchange for cash payments and high-value gifts.

“Today’s actions support the US Strategy on Countering Corruption which identifies the fight against corruption as a national security priority. The United States is committed to exposing corruption and promoting accountability for corrupt acts worldwide.  We will continue to use the tools at our disposal to protect our financial system from abuse by corrupt actors.”

The Department of the Treasury is taking this action pursuant to Executive Order 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world.

For more information on this action, see Treasury’s press release. Also, see the U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption.

Related: Anti-Corruption and Transparency Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Division for Counter Threat Finance and Sanctions Guyana Office of the Spokesperson Sanctions