The United States Department of the Treasury’s probe into alleged corruption involving the Mohamed’s family and government official Mae Thomas went on for two and a half years and was kept under wraps from local government and law enforcement officials.
This is according to the US Ambassador to Guyana Nicole Theriot, who spoke to reporters on the sidelines of an event at the US embassy in Georgetown on Friday afternoon.
Theriot emphasised that the sanctions handed down by the US Department of the Treasury were not done “lightly” and represent the most serious set of sanctions that can be handed down following any probe into corruption and human rights abuses.
But why weren’t Guyanese authorities directly involved in the probe?
According to Theriot, it is standard practice for US authorities to keep their investigations “close-hold” or classified to stop any intelligence from being compromised.
“We tend to not share a lot of information until the information reaches a certain stage,” she explained.
Now that the sanctions are instituted, the Government of Guyana has requested the information gathered through the probe to conduct its own investigation. Theriot is involved in efforts to get that information here.
She said she had received a request from the Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, and the Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Godrey Statia.
“I passed that request immediately to the Treasury Department and I strongly recommended that they share as much of that evidence that is unclassified and that can be shared because we have a wonderful relationship with the Government of Guyana,” Theriot noted.
Nazar Mohamed and his son, Azruddin, were sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury. Ventures associated with the Mohamed’s family, namely Mohamed’s Enterprise, Hadi’s World and Team Mohamed’s Racing, were also sanctioned.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Mae Thomas was also implicated in the corruption allegations and she has since been sent on leave and she has resigned from the leadership of the governing PPP.
