US-sanctioned PPP member Mae Thomas won’t be elections candidate; blames Azruddin Mohamed for her being sanctioned

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 June 2025, 22:25 by Writer

United States (U.S.)-sanctioned People’s Progressive Party (PPP) member Mae Thomas would not be a candidate for the September 1, 2025 general and regional elections, party General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo said Thursday.

“I don’t think she wants to be on the list but the way I personally see it: No, she will not be on the list,” he said when asked whether she was eligible to be a candidate in light of the U.S. sanctions. At the same time, he pointed out that the party’s decision-making body had not yet met to consider its slate for the presidential and parliamentary elections.

The Guyana Elections Commission has set July 14 as Nomination Day.

Mr Jagdeo could not say whether the former Permanent Secretary, was still being paid by the government, before going on to say that she should not be under focus. He accused Mr Azruddin Mohamed for being responsible for her being sanctioned. “Please don’t make Mae the issue here. You have a big sanction man for 10,000 kilogrammes of gold that caused Mae to get sanctioned and now it’s poor Mae you going after… But it’s about Mae Thomas and the big sanction man running around the place and being sanctimonious” he said.

For several weeks now, more so since Mr Azruddin has become overtly political and has declared his intention to contest the upcoming polls, Mr Jagdeo has been repeatedly condemning him for alleged tax evasion and other misdeeds.

Ms Thomas was sanctioned along with city businessmen Nazar “Shell” Mohamed and Azruddin Mohamed last year June. While the Mohameds were cited by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office for Foreign Assets Control for allegedly evading more than US$50 million in taxes on the export of over 10,000 kilogrammes of gold, Ms Thomas had been sanctioned for other alleged administrative irregularities.

Mr Azruddin had said “I don’t know about that” when asked whether he had evaded taxes on gold exports.

OFAC had said while Permanent Secretary to Guyana’s Minister of Home Affairs, Thomas allegedly used her position to offer benefits to Mohamed’s Enterprise and Azruddin, among others, in exchange for cash payments and high-value gifts. Thomas allegedly 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.