ATTORNEY General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, has said that Guyana’s government took with promptitude serious and drastic steps following disclosures recently made by the United States government.
The attorney general was at the time speaking on his show, ‘Issues in the News,’ where he addressed comments on Guyana’s financial system in relation to the disclosure made implicating Mohamed’s Enterprise and former Permanent Secretary Mae Thomas.
Nandlall asserted that he has observed assertions suggesting that these disclosures will result in adverse effects and repercussions for Guyana’s financial system, or pose a threat to the nation’s financial system.
As such, he said, “To those who are making those statements I say that they are premature and they are reckless, because there is no basis upon which those statements can be made. Guyana’s financial system and AML/CFT (Anti Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism) architecture just received a clean bill of health by the authorised agency, the Caribbean Financial Action Taskforce.”

Nevertheless, the attorney general responded to the individual who made these statements–whom he claimed belongs to the opposition — by stating that various actions were taken following the revelation.
In addition, he stated that it is crucial to consider the actions taken, noting that the former permanent secretary has since submitted her resignation from both the government and the People’s Progressive Party.
More importantly, Nandlall said that the Finance Minister within hours of the revelation dispatched a letter to the treasury of the United States requesting a great volume of information that would assist Guyana in launching a probe into the allegations.
This, he added, was followed by the Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Godfrey Statia writing his counterpart of the inland revenue service requesting information that the GRA intends to use in its investigation of the allegations made in relation to the deviation of taxes.
“So, within hours, the Government of Guyana reacted and dispatched requests to the relevant agencies within the US govt seeking information that they obviously have at their disposal based upon their disclosures which information or evidence will be used by the state agencies in Guyana, in pursuing investigations into the allegations made,” Nandlall remarked.

Further to this, he said that it is also public knowledge that the Central Bank has also indicated publicly that it has rescinded the licence that was granted to the Mohameds to operate a Cambio.
He said, “These are serious and drastic steps that were taken with great promptitude and immediacy by the Government of Guyana to demonstrate its commitment to fight transnational crime, financial crime and money-laundering type of activities.”
Meanwhile, the Legal Affairs Minister said that he found it hypocritical that suddenly the APNU+AFC is concerned about the country’s financial system, as he recalled what they subjected Guyana’s financial system to when they had a one-seat majority in parliament between 2011 and 2015.
In this regard, he restated that the Vice President, representing the government, emphasised the recent affirmation that individuals who breach the laws of the nation will be subject to the judicial system.
Additionally, if they violate the laws of another country, they will have to face the consequences of those violations and though they are entitled to due process, they are entitled to all the facilities that the rule of law affords them.
“As a government, it’s our duty to ensure that Guyanese receive those benefits, but they must face the consequences of their actions,” Nandlall iterated.