GEORGETOWN, GUYANA – The We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) Party has condemned the recent closure of several of its candidates’ bank accounts, calling the move unjust, politically motivated, and damaging to democratic fairness.
In a statement issued on August 17, 2025, WIN pointed to official correspondence from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), dated August 12, which clarified that sanctions against WIN’s Presidential Candidate, Azruddin Mohamed, apply to him personally and not to other members of the party. According to the party, this means local banks had no legal or regulatory basis to close accounts belonging to non-sanctioned WIN candidates.
Citing OFAC’s written guidance, WIN highlighted that U.S. financial institutions “would not violate sanctions for maintaining the account of or processing a transaction involving a non-sanctioned organization or non-sanctioned members of that organization solely because another member of that organization is sanctioned.” OFAC also made clear that such restrictions would only apply if a sanctioned individual had a direct interest in the accounts or transactions.
Despite this, WIN said local banks moved to shut down accounts of multiple candidates, a step it described as an overreach with troubling implications for Guyana’s financial sector. The party warned that these actions undermine not only the rights of its candidates but also public confidence in the democratic process.
WIN accused the closures of being politically motivated and amounting to victimization. “This is a blatant political act of intimidation designed to undermine the party’s ability to compete fairly during the election,” the party said, adding that such actions compromise trust in both the banking system and Guyana’s electoral system.
The party called on the CEOs and boards of the financial institutions involved to immediately reverse the decisions and restore access to affected candidates. It also urged the Bank of Guyana, the Private Sector Commission, and international observers to pay close attention to what it described as an abuse of financial power for political ends.
WIN said it remains committed to advocating for transparency, fairness, and equal opportunity for all Guyanese.
