United States Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, yesterday said that the investigation leading to the sanctioning of the Mohameds and Permanent Secretary Mae Toussaint Jr. Thomas-Meerabux, was more than two years in the making and that information could not be provided to anyone here lest it be compromised.
“These sanctions were two and a half years plus of investigations ongoing in the United States. We reserve these type of sanctions for gross levels of corruption and human rights abuses,” the Ambassador yesterday told reporters at the US Embassy, Georgetown, on the sidelines of a press conference held by United States Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Bonnie Jenkins.
“In fact, two days ago, we also levied sanctions on a few Russian financiers in the Ukraine crisis. So this is something that we reserve for very serious crimes. And after two and a half years, it was a whole US Government investigation, and it’s a very high bar. We do not do this lightly. This is something that we ensure we have a preponderance of evidence before we are ready to issue sanctions, and we had that in this case against the three individuals who were sanctioned,” she added.
And concerning the government’s complaint that it was left in the dark and knew nothing about the investigations until Tuesday morning when sanctions against the trio were publicized by the US Department of Treasury, and thus could only then seek information from Washington, Theriot explained that that is the protocol for high-profile investigations against corruption.
‘Close-hold’
Having worked in Haiti where she said she witnessed the same process, she explained, “My understanding is… they have to keep these investigations very close-hold because they can be compromised by anyone and so we tend to not share a lot of information until the investigation reaches a certain stage.”
“And so I regret that people feel they’ve been left in the dark but in the United States it would be exactly the same way, if we were conducting an investigation against someone accused of corruption in the United States. We would not share that investigation until were at a stage where that is possible,” she added.
The United States Department of the Treasury on Tuesday imposed sanctions on businessmen Nazar Mohamed and his son, Azruddin Mohamed, over the alleged massive smuggling of gold, and on Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Mae Toussaint Jr Thomas-Meerabux who was cited for alleged corruption, leading to her being immediately sent on leave by the government here.
Allegations against the Mohameds include defrauding the government here of some US$50 million in taxes from smuggled gold, as well as bribing public officials.
President Irfaan Ali was on Tuesday asked about the matter and said that he had spoken to Theriot and asked her to share all the information the US has with Guyana’s local agencies.
“I saw the press release. I have engaged the United States Ambassador and of course you know that we take these issues very seriously. I have asked the Ambassador to share all the information with us so that our local agency can have that information and she has endeavoured to make the request; to have all the information that they are in possession [of] shared with us. So that we can have the local agencies look at that information,” Ali said.
‘Strongly recommend’
Then on Thursday, after a day of silence from the government and regulatory agencies, Vice President Bharat Jagdeo said that that was not the case as government has asked the US for information so that appropriate action could be taken against perpetrators here. He disclosed that Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance and Public Service, Dr Ashni Singh, and the Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Godfrey Statia, have respectively written to the US Secretary to the Treasury and the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Because this country has certain statutes of limitations on tax evasion, the GRA has asked for the information to be provided by December 31, 2024. Government has also asked the Bank of Guyana and the Financial Intelligence Unit to prepare reports on the implications of the sanctions to the financial sector.
The Vice President noted that while there is a view that government “is silent on this matter… a government can’t be like a social media. It has to serious, be deliberate, and it has to work in a framework, [and] particularly in this case the actions on the identified individuals will depend on the evidence we receive from the United States of America.”
The United States envoy confirmed that government had asked for information so that it could conduct its own investigations. For this request, she said she relayed this information to her government and asked that the information be forthcoming as quickly as possible.
“… Finance Minister Singh and the Commissioner General Statia [GRA Commissioner General Godfrey Statia], have requested officially and in writing, the documentation that we used in building the case for these sanctions, and that was requested. I strongly recommended to our partners back in Washington that they provide as much of that information as possible, because I understand that the Government here wants to do their own investigations, and follow up on this, and they are also incredibly concerned about this corruption,” she said.
But she pointed out that only a certain level of information could be provided and for every additional layer it would require going through that country’s bureaucratic processes.
“And I, again, strongly recommended that they share as much of that evidence as is unclassified or that can be shared because we want where we have a wonderful partnership with the government of Guyana and we want them to be able to take that information and do with it what they need to do,” she posited while noting that she has asked that they “expedite it”.
“There’s also a level of classification called sensitive but unclassified” she informed, noting, “We could share that as well. And then there are there is classified information that we can request be declassified, that we can be allowed to share.”
‘At this time’
The Ambassador also pointed out that when the US Embassy wants to share information, it has to also follow a process. “When we want to be able to share something with the government, we have to request permission from the source agency. And unfortunately, we’re a very big bureaucracy in the United States. So sometimes that takes a little bit of time. But it’s absolutely requested and I was very clear in my request that we want to be able to share as much as humanly possible because we want to be very transparent. The government of Guyana has been very transparent with us and we want to do the same in return,” Theriot expressed.
The US Treasury Department stated that to conceal their illegal activity and operate with impunity, Azruddin Mohamed and Mohamed’s Enterprise engaged “in extensive bribery schemes involving government officials in Guyana.”
“This includes providing direct and recurring bribery payments to Guyanese government officials to ensure favorable treatment in criminal or civil matters that would otherwise suggest their involvement in illegal criminal activity. In return, corrupt officials receive cash and gifts for incidents that are overlooked. Additionally, Mohamed’s Enterprise has paid bribes to corrupt Guyanese government officials to facilitate the award of government contracts,” it added while naming Thomas.
“One such official, Mae Thomas, was the Permanent Secretary to Guyana’s Minister of Home Affairs from October 2020 through August 2023, and is the current Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour. A corrupt Permanent Secretary could manipulate procurement processes to suit their preferred bidder by providing inside information at the early stages of evaluation. Access to a Permanent Secretary of any Ministry could afford contractors insight into upcoming projects and bid values. Permanent Secretaries can act as the legal authority to sign contracts on behalf of their ministry,” the statement said.
Further, it added, “While Permanent Secretary to Guyana’s Minister of Home Affairs, Thomas used her position to offer benefits to Mohamed’s Enterprise and Azruddin, among others, in exchange for cash payments and high-value gifts. Thomas 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.”
While the statement referred to “officials”, Theriot said that she is only aware of the investigations against the trio. “As far as I know, that is not the case. The investigation was specific to these three individuals. I’m not aware of any additional investigations at this time” she said.
