Guyana will await notification from the United States government on its posture regarding investigations into businessmen Nazar ‘Shell’ Mohamed and his son, Azruddin, but dismissed claims that the duo had influenced any of its business decisions or contract awards.
“As the Reuters story said, there has been no official, the Government of Guyana has not been officially informed of any investigations into the Mohameds or what the charges are or what the allegations are at this stage; no official notification,” Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday told a press conference.
“Secondly, I have noticed in the same story that when asked for a comment, every US agency declined to comment on the story. So the Government of Guyana will act on this matter when the US engages it officially, if it engages the Government of Guyana. Right now, we have a story in Reuters with some allegations.
It is in this vein Jagdeo said, that government would not postulate on what it would do if sanctions were imposed because of the Mohameds’ US$300 million investment in a new shorebase at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara.
“If the US were to impose sanctions, then the government would have to assess how it deals with those sanctions and, of course, take steps to protect the interests of Guyana. Guyana! That’s our primary concern. We are elected to… protect the interests of this country,” he emphasised.
A Reuters special report stated that the Mohameds were being investigated for gold smuggling and drug trafficking.
Reuters also disclosed that US government officials repeatedly warned ExxonMobil to avoid doing business with two mining magnates in Guyana, both of whom it said are currently the subject of a US investigation on suspicions of money laundering, drug trafficking, and gold smuggling, according to five persons with knowledge of the matter, and two intelligence reports seen by the news agency.
“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 US$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 report stated.
“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,” it added.
According to the report, “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 Mohameds have denied the explosive claim with the elder Mohamed telling Stabroek News that the report was false and just a “regurgitating of another article that had been written that had no merit.”
He later issued a statement further explaining his position while stating that they maintain their “challenge to Reuters to produce any information to support that these allegations are of any substance.”
The father and son who own a range of businesses here including quarrying, a mall, and gold trading, said that they believe that the report impugns their characters.
On the reports of the Mohameds’ influence on President Irfaan Ali and by extension government, Jagdeo said that he could attest to Ali’s character and that he “is a stickler for process”.
Long time
Jagdeo said that he has known Ali for a long time and had helped groom him both in the party and with his work in government while he was younger.
“They made some allegations that the President’s family is tied to the Mohameds, and somehow that the Mohameds may have influenced his elections as president of Guyana; and that he is somehow acting in favour of the Mohameds. Now I know President Ali for a long time. I know him as a technical person at the Ministry of Finance. I sent him as a regional planner, in the early days, into Region Three. And then he subsequently headed the CDB [Caribbean Development Bank] portfolio and he was part of the depressed (communities) committee, that Mr. (Desmond) Hoyte and I set up with Philomena Sahoye-Shury. He became a minister. He has always been one of the most, one of the most senior and most aggressive party members, in a positive way, in terms of hard work. President Ali earned his position as our candidate. It didn’t come from anyone influencing us. He comes from a long history of a family being in the struggle, his grandmother (was) with Cheddi Jagan in the early days.
“So, he earned his position as the presidential candidate of this party. I was the leader of the opposition and General Secretary of the Party. The Mohameds had no role to play in his elections. He worked hard. We campaigned as a party throughout this country and the people of Guyana chose him. So I don’t understand that aspect. It is a rumour that Reuters had there. That somehow, they influences his ascension into the presidency. Absolute nonsense! I have known him for a long time,” he added.
And turning to claims that the Mohameds’ influence with the President might have been the reason they are a part of the NRG consortium that is developing the Vreed-en-Hoop shorebase, Jagdeo said that it’s all aspersions.
“Secondly, that the Mohameds benefitted from the engagement with Exxon through this consortium because of links with the government of Guyana. We had absolutely nothing to do with their bidding process. ExxonMobil went through a tender. There were several Guyanese companies bidding there… almost all. The Government of Guyana had no say nor did it influence the contracts being given,” he asserted.
“The Government of Guyana had no influence on Exxon to award any contract. In fact, we would never do it because we don’t want to be beholden… to any oil company. That is our policy,” he added.
He said that as government’s overseer of the oil and gas sector, he would also find it “reprehensible” if the President or any business person asks him to accelerate any deals.
“I am in charge basically policy-wise of this sector. Not a single day did Irfaan Ali call me or the Mohameds could ever call me to say ‘we are part of some consortium with Exxon, accelerate… something or do something.’ I’ll find it reprehensible and it never happened,” Jagdeo contended.
He also pointed to government not using the Washington public relations company BRG because they had also been hired by the Mohameds. “We disengaged from that firm because they didn’t tell us that the Mohamed’s had contracted them to do work for them.”
And asked about Ali running for another term come 2025, Jagdeo exclaimed, “Of course! President Ali will be our presidential candidate in 2025 and we will the elections again with him, in 2025!”
