News Room Reports : At least two candidates from the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, led by US-sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed, have been notified that their bank accounts will be closed. Odessa Primus, a party representative, announced this at a press conference on Tuesday evening.
Candidates Natasha Singh-Lewis, a former member of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), and Duarte Hetsberger, the personal assistant to former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, confirmed they received notices from Demerara Bank stating their banking services would be discontinued.
Singh-Lewis expressed her dismay, stating she has been with the bank for about 15 years. She was informed her account must be closed by July 25, 2025, or it will be automatically converted to a banker’s draft for her to collect. The bank cited “internal policies and banking requirements” as the reason for the closure.
Hetsberger reported receiving the same timeline and explanation.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions against the Mohamed family on June 11, 2024, targeting Nazar Mohamed, his son Azruddin, and their businesses due to connections with gold smuggling and corruption. As a result, their business licenses were rescinded, and their bank accounts were closed.
Primus questioned the rationale behind the bank’s decision to close accounts for candidates with no direct financial ties to the Mohameds. She stated:
“If that is the line of thinking, I can’t see how the bank would’ve come to such a conclusion… because the Mohameds don’t have a bank account, so how could they possibly prove that there is money being transferred from the Mohameds to any of the individuals that they discontinued their business with?”
However, the candidates’ affiliation with WIN, led by Mohamed, poses a compliance risk for banking institutions, potentially influencing their decision to sever ties with these individuals.
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