–defends local banks cutting ties with those associated with sanctioned Mohameds

PEOPLE’S Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday defended Demerara Bank, which has decided to sever ties with those associated with U.S.-sanctioned presidential hopeful, Azruddin Mohamed, stressing that they have taken the necessary action to avoid collapse, and global access being restricted.

During a press conference at Freedom House, Georgetown, he said: “The fact is that [if] the banks in Guyana …lose two things [including] access to the SWIFT, they are at serious risk of being shut out of the global financial system.”

SWIFT, which stands for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is a messaging system that financial institutions use to securely send and receive information, such as payment instructions, about international transactions. A SWIFT code, also known as a Bank Identifier Code (BIC), is a unique code that identifies a specific bank or financial institution.

The General Secretary, who also serves as Guyana’s Vice-President, said: “If you lose access to that (SWIFT), you might as well shut down the bank; you can’t function.”

Dr. Jagdeo also slammed Mohamed for downplaying the seriousness of his sanctions and its consequences.

On Tuesday, WIN candidates Natasha Singh-Lewis and Duarte Hetsberger disclosed during a press conference that Demerara Bank recently moved to close their accounts.

The move followed their formal association with the WIN party, led by Mohamed, who, along with his father, Nazar Mohamed, was sanctioned by OFAC on June 11, 2024 for alleged gold smuggling and tax evasion.

Though WIN maintains that its candidates have no financial ties to the Mohamed family or their businesses, compliance analysts suggest that their appearance on the party list automatically flags them as affiliated with a sanctioned entity.

“You’re part of an organisation called WIIN, headed by a man who is sanctioned. So, you’re subjected to enhanced scrutiny. No bank will want to risk that relationship with the U.S,” Dr. Jagdeo had said.

Dr. Jagdeo also noted that other banking institutions will follow suit to protect their interests.
Mohamed and former Permanent Secretary Mae Thomas were both sanctioned by the US last year for alleged involvement in gold smuggling and corruption.

Thomas had her bank accounts closed when she was sanctioned, Dr. Jagdeo said.

In August last year, the Bank of Guyana confirmed that all banks in Guyana have closed accounts they had with the Mohamed family and their businesses following U.S. sanctions for their alleged roles in public corruption.

Azruddin, along with his father, Nazar Mohamed and their businesses, namely Mohamed’s Enterprise, Hadi’s World and Team Mohamed’s Racing, on June 11 2024, were sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which oversees sanctions against individuals and entities tied to illicit activities and hostile foreign governments.

In a June 2024 statement, the OFAC stated, “Azruddin and Mohamed’s Enterprise evaded Guyana’s tax on gold exports, and defrauded the Guyanese government of tax revenues by under-declaring their gold exports to Guyanese authorities. Between 2019 and 2023, Mohamed’s Enterprise omitted more than 10 thousand kilogrammes of gold from import-and-export declarations, and avoided paying more than US$50 million in duty taxes to the Government of Guyana.”