HGP Nightly News – The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), working alongside the Guyana Police Force, says it has moved to have legal proceedings instituted against Azruddin Mohamed and several revenue agency employees over what it describes as a blatant breach of Guyana’s anti-money laundering laws and internal procedures.
In a statement, the GRA pointed to Section 3(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act, which sets out the offence of money laundering where a person knowingly, or having reasonable grounds to believe property represents the proceeds of crime, converts or transfers that property with the aim of concealing or disguising its illicit origin. The agency also highlighted that under Section 3(4) of the Act, a conviction for a serious offence is not required to prove that property is the proceeds of crime.
According to the GRA, officials were aware that Mohamed has been sanctioned and indicted abroad for alleged offences including fraud, customs violations and money laundering, and that restrictions had been imposed. Against that backdrop, the agency alleges that certain employees “appear to have acted in concert” to transfer motor vehicles from Mohamed’s name to other individuals in a manner the GRA says was contrary to the statute and to established procedures.
The agency says it has already taken internal disciplinary action. It announced the termination of the employees implicated in the alleged transfers, along with their manager.
The GRA did not name the employees in its statement, but signalled that the matter has moved beyond administrative action and into a law enforcement phase, with the Police Force engaged and proceedings being pursued.
