GBTI closes bank accounts of WIN candidates

Jul 31, 2025 News

…Odessa Primus among over 10 others affected

Kaieteur News – General Secretary (GS) of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, Odessa Primus is among several party candidates whose bank accounts were closed by the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI). This is according to Primus who briefly related to this publication on Wednesday that she received a call from the bank informing her of its decision. Primus had confirmed that more than 10 candidates had received notices from the bank of their decision to part ways. When asked if the bank provided an explanation for closing their accounts, she said “No, even people try to get explanation and so on and the bank had no further explanation to give.”

According to Primus, they are to meet as a group in the coming week to decide on the way forward. Speaking on behalf of the party, the General Secretary said, “We condemn the action of the bank, this is a democracy and what the bank has done is wholly undemocratic, and a kind of behaviour that shouldn’t be tolerated and targeting people based on their political choice should not be something that should be taken lightly.”

This is second bank that has moved to cut ties with candidates from the We Invest in Nationhood party, which is led by US sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed. It was reported recently that two other WIN candidates Natasha Singh-Lewis and Duarte Hetsberger had their accounts closed by the Demerara Bank Limited (DBL).

They said DBL notified them of the termination of services via email correspondence. The candidates questioned whether the move is linked to their affiliation with WIN a party founded by Mohamed, who was sanctioned by OFAC for alleged gold smuggling.

In addition to Singh-Lewis signaling her intention to take legal action, Primus had said the party was assessing whether to pursue collective legal recourse against DBL. Primus noted WIN will be notifying international observers and the global community about what they consider victimisation of their candidates. She added that given this move by the local bank, all WIN members with accounts at DBL will now be closing them. “We will not be intimidated by any stretch of the imagination, and I understand that while the government loves power and what the feel of power means for them, our people will not be intimidated. We will stand together and we will stand strong, because this is a democracy…” she said.

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GBTI, Odessa Primus, OFAC sanctions, We Invest in Nationhood, WIN candidates

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