Latest update March 26th, 2026 7:55 AM
$191B tax bill to Mohameds ‘just the start’ – Jagdeo
…orders GRA, police to go after corrupt officials who aided gold smuggling
(Kaieteur News) – Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has called on the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to widen their investigation into the alleged multibillion-dollar gold smuggling ring linked to sanctioned businessmen Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed, to include corrupt officials who may have helped them move gold out of the country for years.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo
Jagdeo made this statement, during his weekly press conference on Thursday at Freedom House in Georgetown. In June 2024, Nazar, Azruddin and their businesses were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The Mohameds were sanctioned for alleged gold smuggling. While much attention has been placed on the Mohameds, the Vice President noted that the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) must expand their current probe beyond the businessmen. “The GRA, the police must immediately start the investigation of all of those corrupt officials who collaborated and the gold board who collaborated with the Mohameds in smuggling the gold in every period in the APNU period as well as the period under the PPP,” he said.
He reminded that prior to the 2025 General and Regional Elections he had stated that the investigation into the alleged corruption should be pursued after the elections. This position was taken after Azruddin Mohamed launched his party We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) and contested the presidency, with his party emerging with the second highest number of votes.
However, now that the election is over Jagdeo said, “I expect that a full-fledged investigation would be launched… into those people who may have been complicit in assisting the Mohameds to evade the massive sum of taxes.”
Jagdeo’s also pointed to the recent move by GRA to issue a tax assessment of approximately $191 billion for unpaid taxes and penalties related to alleged gold smuggling between 2019 and 2024 allegedly by the Mohameds. For his part, Jagdeo said this figure could rise substantially as further audits and investigations are conducted into earlier years. He said, “It’s 191 billion only for the years of assessment from 2019 to 2024… there’ll be much more to come after other investigations are gathered for other periods when large amounts of gold were smuggled out of the country.”
This publication had reported that in a fresh move, a letter dated October 2, 2025, addressed to Nazar and Azruddin, GRA said it is seeking billions in taxes from Mohamed’s Enterprise. The demand arises from $34 billion in understated income declarations for the period 2019 to 2023. According to GRA, its review of the company’s filings showed that over $34 billion in income taxes were understated. With accumulated interest and penalties, the total sum now owed to the state stands at more than $191 billion. Moreover, the Vice President also drew attention to the recent U.S indictment against Nazar and Azruddin.
The indictment, unsealed earlier this month accuses the Mohameds of orchestrating an elaborate fraud and money-laundering scheme involving gold exports, customs fraud, bribery, and the evasion of millions in taxes and royalties owed to Guyana. The indictment seen by this newspaper charges that Mohamed’s Enterprise, the Guyana-based gold wholesaling and export company controlled 90 per cent by Nazar and 10 per cent by Azruddin, is alleged to have sold gold to buyers in Miami and Dubai, while circumventing Guyana’s revenue and regulatory system.
Jagdeo said that he read the document and highlighted that prosecutors have accused several individuals of creating false invoices and documentation to deceive both American and Guyanese authorities. The Vice President said, “Obviously they have the people who they compromise to create the false invoices in the United States to submit to GRA.” He then reiterated that those who held positions of authority and used them to enrich themselves must answer.
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- Azruddin Mohamed, Bharrat Jagdeo, Corrupt officials, Guyana Police Force, Guyana Revenue Authority, Nazar
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