GEORGETOWN, GUYANA – Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, is again sounding the alarm that recent United States sanctions against several prominent Guyanese, including presidential candidate Azruddin Mohamed, could undermine the country’s recent gains in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
The warning comes just months after Guyana was hailed internationally for its progress in strengthening its Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework. In May, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) commended Guyana’s performance during its study on money laundering vulnerabilities, presented at the 60th CFATF Plenary in Trinidad and Tobago. Last year, Guyana even walked away with the prestigious Best Regional AML/CFT Case Award (BREMOLT) at the 59th Plenary in Jamaica, edging out Jamaica and The Bahamas.
But Nandlall says the landscape has shifted dramatically. “We now have a large number of sanctioned persons who were deeply involved in the financial sector, operating in the gold trade and as cambio dealers,” he told viewers of his weekly programme Issues in the News on Tuesday.
Among them is Mohamed, sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) along with his father, Nazar “Shell” Mohamed, and several family-owned companies. OFAC accuses the Mohameds’ Enterprise of smuggling some 10,000 kg of gold out of Guyana between 2019 and 2023, dodging over US$50 million in duty taxes. Locally, Azruddin also faces tax evasion charges totaling nearly $900 million.
Since the sanctions, the government has moved to revoke cambio and gold dealer licences linked to the Mohameds, while banks have closed accounts for both the family and their associates — including candidates on Mohamed’s new WIN Party slate. Investigations have been launched by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and the Guyana Revenue Authority, though Nandlall says political persecution claims could delay progress.
Adding to the complexity, the U.S. is now a full member of CFATF, a position Nandlall believes will ensure American sanctions carry maximum impact in Guyana. “Because Mr. Mohamed is now a presidential candidate, he is classified as a Politically Exposed Person,” Nandlall said, warning that such a designation brings “an even higher threshold of scrutiny.”
The Attorney General says the stakes are enormous. If Mohamed were elected to Parliament, he argues, the situation could spiral into a diplomatic and financial headache for the country. “One person is exposing this economy, this financial system, and the lives of every single Guyanese to the perils I am outlining — and he is not doing this for king or country,” Nandlall said.
Guyana has been a CFATF member since 2002, working steadily to strengthen its financial safeguards. But Nandlall warns that the sanctions could undo years of progress. “Guyana is going to be judged,” he said. “Because of what this guy did, you could very well get an adverse judgment and face all sorts of negative consequences… these are the facts.”
