U.S. concerned if Azruddin Mohamed is elected parliamentarian

Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 July 2025, 17:43 by Writer

United States (U.S.) Ambassador to Guyana Nicole Theriot on Wednesday said the U.S. was extremely concerned about the possibility of sanctioned Guyanese businessman Azruddin Mohamed being elected a parliamentarian.

“We’re in such a beautiful position. All these U.S. companies want to come to Guyana and Guyana is welcoming and I don’t want, if he were to become a member of the government, for that to change, so that’s a real concern that I have,” she told reporters on the sidelines of the Global Biodiversity Summit being held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

She cautioned that if someone who is sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is elected, that that could send jitters down the U.S. private sector and affect Guyana’s investment climate such as had happened in Afghanistan and other countries. “They sometimes look to de-risk or to even cut ties with the country.

Asked what was her position if Mohamed, the presidential candidate for We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) political party, is elected to the National Assembly, she said, “he would still be a member of government so that will be a concern for us, yes.”

With Mr Mohamed attracting large numbers of persons compared to the other small parties, at political community engagements and on Nomination Day, the American Ambassador said the likelihood of Mr Mohamed being elected to the House is worrying for the U.S.

“It’s problematic in multiple ways because the way, we at the U.S. government interact with the government. We have to be very careful and if that person is involved, let’s say he were on a certain committee, we would have to be very careful in working with that committee. We would have to ensure that we didn’t work with him specifically ” she said.

Mr Mohamed and his father, Nazar “Shell” Mohamed, were sanctioned in June 2024 for allegedly evading US$50 million in taxes payable to the Guyana government on the export of more than 10,000 kilograms of gold. Ruling People’s Progressive Party Civic member Mae Thomas was also sanctioned in connection with her alleged role in issuing gun licences and contracts while she was a Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The privately-owned Demerara Bank Limited on Tuesday cut ties with several associates of Mohamed’s political party, citing the need to derisk due to an OFAC-sanctioned person.