Ambassador Nicole Theriot has expressed concern regarding the possibility of sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed being elected to the Guyanese parliament. Speaking on the sidelines of the Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, she stated:

“All these US companies want to come to Guyana and Guyana is welcoming. I don’t want, if he were to become a member of the government, that to change. So, that’s a real concern that I have.”
Implications of Sanctions
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned both Nazar Mohamed and his son Azruddin in 2024 due to tax evasion related to gold exports. The sanctions indicated that between 2019 and 2023, Mohamed’s Enterprise omitted over 10,000 kilograms of gold from import and export declarations, resulting in more than $50 million in unpaid duty taxes to the Government of Guyana.
Ambassador Theriot elaborated on the potential complications:
“It’s problematic in multiple ways… We have to be very careful. If that person is involved, let’s say he were on a certain committee, we would have to ensure that we didn’t work with him specifically.”
Political Aspirations
Azruddin Mohamed has launched a political party, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), and is running as the presidential candidate. His party has been approved by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to contest the upcoming elections on September 1. The U.S. government’s concerns reflect broader implications for international relations and business interests in Guyana should Mohamed be elected.

Banking Issues for some WIN Party Candidates Amid Sanctions