Gold trading businessman Nazar `Shell’ Mohamed today denied explosive claims in a Reuters report that he and his son Azruddin Mohamed were engaged in gold and drug smuggling.
Nazar Mohamed told Stabroek News today that the report was false and just a “regurgitating of another article that had been written that had no merit”.
He told this newspaper that he will later today issue a statement on the “false claims”
The Reuters special report will pose a major problem for the image of the Guyana Government and the business operations of ExxonMobil and its local partners.
The names of Mohamed and his son have popped up over the years in various controversies including one last year where it had been alleged that they were involved in the cover-up of the gunning down of a man on Main Street outside of the Palm Court.
Declaring that he was not involved in any `scampish’ business, ‘Shell’ Mohamed told Stabroek News in April that he had secured the Washington DC public relations and lobbying firm, Barbour Griffith & Rogers [BGR], to investigate why he had been blocked for more than a decade from securing a US non-immigrant visa.
Mohamed, who was then preparing to make another non-immigrant visa petition to the United States embassy here said that his character was beyond reproach.
Lead investigator and retired Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Acting Assistant Director of its Inspection Division, Tom Locke, said that at the behest of Mohamed, a report was submitted to the US State Department and the US Embassy in Guyana, and Locke said he believes that Mohamed will get his visa back.
“The purpose of the investigation was to assist Mr Mohamed with his visa (application process). He had applied for a US visa and was put into what they call Administrative Processing, which means that there were some things that they were waiting for more information on. And as you may be aware, there have been a number of allegations made against Mr. Mohamed over the years. And I was hired to take a look at those allegations and bring forth any of the evidence for or against them,” Locke told Stabroek News in an interview.
“I told Mr Mohamed; I said, look, you know, I’m fine with doing this investigation, I said, but if I come up with something that I find troubling, I’m going to have to report it as I see it. And he agreed and so I did the investigation, and this is the result of it. And what we’re hoping is that the US State Department will take a look at this information that would satisfy them, so that he can get a visa and come the United States. [Before] he had been coming to the United States …he hasn’t applied for a visa since then. He’s never been turned down for a visa. And certainly when he had a visa, he obeyed all the rules, came and went as he was supposed to. He never overstayed his visa or anything like that. And… I found him to be very much a rule follower,” Locke added.
But the 70-year-old Mohamed told Stabroek News that hiring the public relations and lobbying firm was not about obtaining his visa only, but to also show the public that he has nothing to hide, having come from humble beginnings and legitimately building his business through currency trading, real estate, gold mining and trading. He said that after decades of hard work, he could not no longer sit aside and have his competitors bring his character into disrepute in his old age, having noticed that rumours surrounding his businesses had begun escalating. For over 50 years, Mohamed said that he worked tirelessly. “I worked very hard. I started suitcase trading…building from that I went into business and bought one place then another…then into currency trading, gold mining and buying…,” he said while emphasizing that while people now see the wealth he created, many are not aware of the hard labour he put in to build his companies to what they are today.
“My work is legitimate. I never was involved in drug dealings, robbed anybody, gold smuggling and any ‘scampish’ business,” he added while pointing out that from feedback, it seemed that particular business competitors were targeting him and had set “a poison pen” path to shame him. He informed that he had been traveling to the United States before the terror attacks of 9/11 and even traveled after. When his visa expired and he applied again and was told of the administrative processing, he surmised that after the attacks, visa restrictions got tougher for Muslims so he had to allow for the due diligence process and did not press the issue. That twice within the last 10 years he got the same response from the US Embassy that his visa was under administrative processing left him perplexed. And coupled with rumours here that he could not travel because he was blacklisted and wanting to travel now that he has more leisure time, he said that he began researching how the visa issue could be addressed. He said that he researched companies to help and hired an immigration lawyer who is currently looking at his case.
Mohamed said that he also approached the Guyana Consulate in Washington and told them that findings from his research had left him with four companies to help. He said that BGR was recommended and Locke was assigned by BGR to his case. He told him that if anything untoward was found, they would have no choice but to report as is. Sources close to Mohamed said that “the last straw” for the businessman was after his son Azruddin’s Ferrari was held by US customs and rumours swirled that it was because he was being investigated for a series of crimes. Azruddin had said that his vehicle was “inexplicably detained” on the grounds of allegations made to foreign law enforcement about himself, family, and company but was released, following court proceedings. He also said allegations ranging from drug trafficking, assassinations and illegal gun trade, to money laundering, financing of terrorism and purchasing gold from Venezuela (a blacklisted country), were levelled against him by a competing gold trader.
Vetted
Mohamed, according to BGR, has been vetted by all of the groups and businesses with whom he has done business, including ExxonMobil, Halliburton, Champion X, Stena Drilling, Peterson Energy Logistics, Aramco and Baker Hughes. “All have stringent written guidelines governing their relationship with individuals such as Mr. Mohamed,” it stated. Other findings of the independent inquiry, are that, “Mr. Mohamed has accounts with all of the banks in Guyana. To open these accounts, he was required to undergo and pass Know Your Customer (KYC) inquiries to comply with U.S. KYC guidance and regulations. All relatives, friends, employees, business associates and government officials interviewed lauded Mr. Mohamed as a person and as an executive. None believed the allegations against him and his family. Mr. Mohamed began his professional life as a Guyanese civil servant. This speaks to the narrative for him as successful yet humble and dedicated to service.”
It continues, “Mr. Mohamed has been issued numerous US visas in the past decades, has traveled to the US many times, and has never violated the rules.
BRG’s website informed that it has offices in Washington, Austin, and London, and extensive business relationships around the world. “The bipartisan firm’s clients include Fortune 500 companies, foreign governments, trade associations, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, hospitals and coalitions. When executives, industry representatives and government leaders seek strategic partners for their most important challenges, they turn to a trusted partner: BGR,” the website states.
A portion of the Reuters Special Report follows:
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (Reuters) – U.S. government officials repeatedly warned Exxon Mobil to avoid doing business with two mining magnates in Guyana, who face a U.S. investigation on suspicions of money laundering, drug trafficking and gold smuggling, according to five people with knowledge of the matter and two intelligence reports seen by Reuters.
The Texas-based oil giant ignored the advice, which was delivered during meetings in late 2021 and early 2022, and cut a deal to build a $300 million onshore logistics base with a consortium that included the two Guyanese businessmen, Nazar Mohamed and his son, Azruddin. Exxon announced the contract award in April 2022.
The Mohameds have close ties with Guyana’s president and some cabinet members, according to one of the U.S. intelligence reports and three sources with knowledge of their relationships. The government controls access to vast and newly discovered oil reserves off the South American nation’s coast. The Mohameds, owners of Mohamed’s Enterprise, had mostly focused on gold mining and foreign currency exchange before expanding into the oil business in recent years and securing the lucrative deal with Exxon.
Now, U.S. officials are considering imposing sanctions on the Mohameds, according to four of the sources and two additional people familiar with the matter. That could require Exxon to sever its business relationship with any sanctioned individuals or companies.
The construction of the shore base is part of Exxon’s efforts to expand oil production off Guyana’s coast. An Exxon-led partnership with two other oil firms currently produces about 380,000 barrels per day. The companies plan to expand output to 1.2 million bpd by 2027, a massive haul that would make Guyana’s production higher than what many OPEC nations, including neighboring Venezuela, produce today.
Exxon did not answer detailed questions from Reuters for this story but said in a statement: “We comply with all applicable laws where we operate and conduct our business.”
The Mohameds deny any wrongdoing. They are being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security and other U.S. agencies, on suspicions of smuggling Colombian cocaine and illegally mined Venezuelan gold to the United States, Europe and the Middle East, according to the five sources with knowledge of the probe. The Mohameds are also suspected of laundering money for drug traffickers and criminals, including sanctioned Russian nationals operating in the region, according to one of the intelligence reports.
The FBI, DEA and Homeland Security all declined to comment.
The U.S. officials advised Exxon against doing any business with the Mohameds, warning that Washington had identified concerns and “red flags” with the pair and saying they could not get visas to enter the United States, according to two of the sources familiar with the matter. The officials did not, however, tell the Exxon executives the full details of the criminal probes into the Mohameds because of legal constraints on disclosing information about ongoing investigations, the two sources said.
Reuters told Exxon in a request for comment in July 2022 that Nazar Mohamed faced a criminal investigation by U.S. authorities.
The news organization interviewed the elder Mohamed twice last spring and summer, once at his company’s Georgetown headquarters, where armed men guarded the front door and framed photographs of Guyanese President Irfaan Ali and government ministers hung in the entrance hall. He said at the time that he had heard he was under a U.S. investigation for “quite some time.”
“I have been unfairly targeted,” Nazar Mohamed told Reuters.
In February 2023, Azruddin Mohamed publicly disclosed criminal allegations, posting an angry message on Facebook to tens of thousands of followers saying the company was being falsely accused of drug trafficking and other crimes by someone talking to “foreign law enforcement.”
Nazar Mohamed said this week in a statement to Reuters, speaking for himself, his son and their businesses, that they had committed no crimes and were not aware of any U.S. investigation into their activities or any discussion of U.S. sanctions against them.
“The accusations you mention,” the statement said, “are false and defamatory.”
U.S. government representatives met in person at least three times with Exxon executives in Guyana’s capital of Georgetown to warn them about the Mohameds in late 2021 and early 2022, before the oil giant signed the construction contract with the joint venture that included the Mohameds, according to two sources familiar with the meetings. The executives included Alistair Routledge, head of Exxon’s Guyana operation, the sources said.
Exxon declined a Reuters request for an interview with Routledge.
The U.S. officials advised Exxon executives to choose any of the other five groups that were competing for the deal, all of which also involved Guyanese companies, according to one of the people familiar with the discussions.
Guyana is Exxon’s top bet for global oil production growth outside of the United States. At the time it contracted with the group including the Mohameds, the company still needed Guyana government approval for more than half of the 1.2 million barrels per day in production capacity it projects by 2027. Exxon owns 45% of the project and its two partners, Hess and China National Offshore Oil Corporation, own 30% and 25% stakes, respectively.
The partnership has since secured almost all of the approvals required to hit the 2027 output target.
Neither Hess nor CNOOC responded to requests for comment on the investigations into the Mohameds or the government’s meetings with Exxon.
EXOTIC CARS, FIREARMS AND POLITICAL CONNECTIONS
The Mohameds’ close government ties make them an important power broker, an influential force that international companies could face if they want to do business in the burgeoning oil nation, according to one of the U.S. intelligence reports seen by Reuters.
The father, 70-year-old Nazar Mohamed, has long been close to the family of Guyana’s president, Irfaan Ali, who came to power in 2020, according to three people familiar with their relationship. One of the intelligence reports reviewed by Reuters said the Mohameds donated heavily to Ali’s 2020 presidential campaign and provided logistical support. The Mohameds have since regularly attended government-sponsored events, including an overseas trade mission, the report said.
The elder Mohamed is also a prominent donor to local sporting events, schools, charities and politicians. His son, Azruddin, who now runs Mohamed’s Enterprise, cultivates a flashy image, posting images of himself wearing designer clothes, driving exotic sports cars, and posing with rifles on social media.
A spokesperson for President Ali did not address questions about his relationship with the Mohameds but said in a statement that the president is not aware of any U.S. criminal investigations into the Mohameds’ activities. Nazar Mohamed, in his statement, said he and his son “do not have any political influence that could be helpful to Exxon Mobil” in securing approvals and permits to drill off Guyana’s coast.
Exxon’s deal with the consortium that includes the Mohameds involves the construction of a $300 million shore base – a logistics hub to move workers and equipment back and forth to Exxon’s offshore drilling platforms. A planned second phase of the project, not included in the original contract, calls for a deepwater port for transporting oil and other goods on large ships. The Houston-based oil giant signed a 20-year lease with the consortium, which will retain ownership of the facility, on undisclosed terms.
To execute the deal with Exxon, the Mohameds joined with two other Guyanese businessmen, Andron Alphonso and Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer, to form NRG Holdings, which then formed a joint venture with Jan De Nul, a European builder. The NRG Holdings website lists Hadi’s World Incorporated, a subsidiary of Mohamed’s Enterprise, as a consortium member. Jan De Nul has a 15% stake in the venture and the rest is split evenly among the three Guyanese partners.
NRG Holdings said in a statement that its partners were unaware of any criminal probe. “We did our due diligence. The Mohameds have been in business for many years, they are well known in Guyana.”
Deygoo-Boyer echoed the NRG statement in an interview. Alphonso and Jan De Nul did not respond to requests for comment.
Nazar Mohamed said in his statement that his businesses did not have the capacity to build a shore base or a deepwater port. He did not detail his and his son’s role in the project, beyond saying they and their partners won the business through a bidding process. He did not answer a follow-up question on his company’s scope of work.
Deygoo-Boyer said that the Mohameds have been “more of a financial investor” in the project than an active participant.
POSSIBLE SANCTIONS
U.S. officials have been in deliberations about whether to impose sanctions on Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed, according to six people familiar with the matter, including an Exxon official and a Guyana government official. The sanctions, which would be administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, would make it illegal for American companies to do business with the Mohameds.
Guyana’s government is studying options to minimize the impact on Exxon’s operations should sanctions be imposed, the government official said.
The U.S. Treasury Department did not respond to requests for comment on the possibility of the Mohameds being sanctioned.
Nazar Mohamed, in his statement to Reuters, said: “We have continuous and fruitful trade relations with the United States of America.”
Mohamed’s son Azruddin addressed allegations of criminal activity in a February 2023 social media post, blasting two “wicked” people he did not name but accused of “spreading misinformation and blatant lies to a foreign law enforcement unit about myself, my family and my company.” The post, on a Facebook page followed by the equivalent to about a fifth of Guyana’s population, said the allegations included “drug trafficking, assassinations, illegal gun trade, money laundering, financing of terrorism and purchasing gold from Venezuela.”
In that post, he added that a Ferrari sports car he imported from the United States to Guyana had been impounded by U.S. customs officials, and was only released by a judge after his lawyer submitted documents to show it was legitimately obtained.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection declined to comment on the seizure.
In his statement, Nazar Mohamed said the Ferrari was seized as “criminally derived property” according to a “seizure letter,” but the U.S. government quickly released the car when challenged in court.
