President Irfaan Ali on Monday said his government has not received any notification from the US authorities that businessman Nazar Mohamed and his family are under investigation.
“There are many allegations. I have never received officially, in writing or verbally any request from anyone or any suggestion from any one, and I said this to Reuters, and they asked a very specific question, whether the United States of America, State Department, ever requested anything about the individual Mr. Mohamed or whether I was ever informed of anything illegal, neither of the two has occurred, it was never raised with me, so I can’t comment on something that was never raised with me, I cannot comment on something that was never brought to my attention,” Ali told reporters on the sidelines of the swearing in of mayors and deputy mayors.
The Reuters news agency in a special report titled “US Probing Exxon Contractor in Guyana for Smuggling Drugs, Gold” dated July 14, 2023 stated that sanctions could be instituted against the members of the Mohamed family and their companies for alleged engagement in gold and drug smuggling.
Mohammed in a response to the report deemed it defamatory.
He said that the news report was riddled with unverified and unsubstantiated assertions that the Mohameds are the subjects of investigations by “…the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security, and other US agencies on the suspicion of smuggling Colombian cocaine and illegally mined Venezuelan gold to the United States, Europe, and the Middle East…” and for “…laundering money for drug traffickers and criminals, including sanctioned Russian nationals operating in the region…”
Mohammed rejected the allegations and challenged Reuters to produce the evidence.
According to the report, the US government had repeatedly warned ExxonMobil against doing business with the Mohameds but the oil company apparently ignored those warnings. The report also noted the close ties between the President and the Mohameds.
Ali when asked about this by journalists said it is no secret that he and the Mohammeds are close friends.
“I think that my relationship with every Guyanese is public knowledge; I know the Mohammeds very well, from since growing up,
“The Reuters reporter, would have sent this article and would have asked me this very question that you are asking me, and I said to them that the relationship is like any other Guyanese, there is nothing special or different,” the President said.
At the recently held Local Government Elections on June 12th 2023, Mohamed, father of Azruddin Mohammed, won a seat for the Eccles /Ramsburg Neighbourhood Democratic Council as a candidate for Ali’s party, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic.
Mohammed was up against A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Candidate Winston Stoby.
He amassed 88 votes while Stoby secured 28.
In wake of the allegations against the family, the President said Nazar Mohamed was elected by the people, and the will of the people must be respected.
“People go up for public office, and people elect them. The people elected Mr Mohamed on a slate that he was on, and so, we have to respect the will of the people,” Ali posited.
When asked if the allegations would impact the friendship between him and the Mohammeds, the President said “these are just allegations not prevailing facts”.
Nazar Mohammed is the owner of Mohamed’s Enterprise, a major gold dealer.
