Treasury Targets Guyana Elites for Corruption

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned members of one of Guyana’s wealthiest families, Nazar Mohamed and his son, Azruddin Mohamed, their company, Mohamed’s Enterprise, and a Guyanese government official, Mae Thomas , for their roles in public corruption in Guyana.

Azruddin and Mohamed’s Enterprise evaded Guyana’s tax on gold exports and defrauded the Guyanese government of tax revenues by under­declaring their gold exports to Guyanese authorities. Between 2019 and 2023, Mohamed’s Enterprise omitted more than 10 thousand kilograms of gold from import and export declarations and avoided paying more than $50 million in duty taxes to the Government of Guyana.

Additionally, OFAC designated two other entities, Hadi’s World and Team Mohamed’s Racing Team, for being owned or controlled by Mohamed’s Enterprise and Azruddin, respectively. 

Nazar Mohamed founded Mohamed’s Enterprise in Guyana before expanding to the United States as a moneychanger and transitioned into gold trading, growing Mohamed’s Enterprise into one of Guyana’s largest gold exporters. In time, Azruddin Mohamed ultimately took over Mohamed’s Enterprise, which also now does business as “Confidential Cambio.”  

On Thursday, the Bank of Guyana announced the revocation of the licence of Confidential Cambio, stating " the entity is no longer authorized to conduct the business of buying and selling of foreign currency”.

Mohamed’s Enterprise has bribed customs officials to falsify import and export documents, as well as to facilitate illicit gold shipments. Mohamed’s Enterprise had paid bribes to Guyanese government officials to ensure the undisrupted flow of inbound and outbound personnel that move currency and other items on behalf of Azruddin and Mohamed’s Enterprise.

 Azruddin and Mohamed’s Enterprise have engaged in extensive bribery schemes involving government officials in Guyana. This includes providing direct and recurring bribery payments to Guyanese government officials to ensure favorable treatment in criminal or civil matters that would otherwise suggest their involvement in illegal criminal activity. In return, corrupt officials receive cash and gifts for incidents that are overlooked. Additionally, Mohamed’s Enterprise has paid bribes to corrupt Guyanese government officials to facilitate the award of government contracts.

One such official, Mae Thomas, was the Permanent Secretary to Guyana’s Minister of Home Affairs from October 2020 through August 2023, and is the current Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour. While Permanent Secretary to Guyana’s Minister of Home Affairs, Thomas used her position to offer benefits to Mohamed’s Enterprise and Azruddin, among others, in exchange for cash payments and high-value gifts. Thomas misused her position to influence the award of official contract bids and the approval processes for weapons permits and passports on behalf of Mohamed’s Enterprise.

OFAC is designating Azruddin and Mohamed’s Enterprise for being persons who have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery, that is conducted by a foreign person.

OFAC is designating Nazar for being a foreign person who is or has been a leader or official of Mohamed’s Enterprise, an entity whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 13818, as a result of activities related to Nazar’s tenure. 

OFAC is designating Team Mohamed’s Racing Team for being owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Azruddin.

OFAC is designating Hadi’s World for being owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Mohamed’s Enterprise.

OFAC is designating Thomas for being a foreign person who is a current or former government official, or a person acting for or on behalf of such an official, who is responsible for or complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery.

As of May 2024, Guyana's recoverable oil and natural gas resources are estimated to be worth nearly $1 trillion and more than 11 billion oil-equivalent barrels. This makes Guyana the world's fastest-growing new oil province in a decade and gives it the highest oil reserves per capita in the world, almost three times more than Saudi Arabia.

Click here for more information on the individuals and entities designated today.