-US Ambassador to Guyana says
-lobbies for provision of as much information as possible to guide local gold- smuggling investigation
THE United States Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, has written to the US Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in Washington for the sharing of information on recent sanctions imposed on the Mohameds and government official Mae Thomas.
Maintaining that the US has a strong partnership with Guyana and will be working along with the country to share the information gathered in the investigation, Ambassador Theriot said: “We have a wonderful partnership with the Government of Guyana and we want them to be able to take that information and do with it what they need to do.”
Ambassador Theriot on Friday had disclosed that Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh and GRA Commissioner Godfrey Statia requested the documentation used in building the case that led to the sanctions.
Against this backdrop, she strongly advocated for the provision of as much information as possible to assist Guyana’s internal investigations.
“I passed that request immediately to the Treasury Department, which is sort of the umbrella for the investigation, and I, again, strongly recommended that they share as much of that evidence that is unclassified or that can be shared.”
According to Vice-President Jagdeo, the Central Bank and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) have been tasked with preparing a report outlining the implications of the sanctions on Guyana’s financial system.
“We want to safeguard our financial system,” he firmly said, adding: “The Central Bank has notified us that they’ve already indicated to the Mohameds that they will cancel their cambio licence, because that’s part of the financial system.”
Within the statement, the OFAC highlighted that gold is one of Guyana’s main exports, but it remains a highly fractured industry with small-scale gold-mining operations in Guyana occupying a majority share of the country’s gold production.
The cambio licence of the Mohameds has since been revoked, while PS Thomas has been sent on administrative leave. She has also tendered her resignation from the Central Committee of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).
The OFAC’s statement noted that Mohamed’s Enterprise evaded more than US$50 million in duty taxes by under declaring over 10,000 kilogrammes of gold exports between 2019 and 2023.
Ambassador Theriot stressed the US’ support to Guyana in addressing the serious allegations, before noting her country’s commitment to there being a transparent exchange of information and a continued partnership between the two states.
“I was very clear in my request that we want to be able to share as much as humanly possible because we want to be very transparent. The Government of Guyana has been very transparent with us, and we want to do the same in return,” she affirmed.
