The sudden US clampdown on the billionaire Mohameds family of Georgetown, Guyana, South America has left many Guyanese in a state of shock and sadness. Many people question, “why now” or “why so suddenly.” After all, for the past four years or so, the Mohameds family, especially the younger Azzrudin Mohamed, had been in the habit of publicizing their outstanding philanthropic deeds via their Facebook Page, Team Mohameds, and had been receiving much praises, recognition, and accolades from the general Guyanese public.
Despite all of this, it appears that the Mohameds family of Georgetown, proprietors of Mohamed Enterprises, has long been at loggerheads with US authorities. The sanctions then had been long in coming. According to a Demerara Waves article dated 12th of April, 2023, the Mohameds had some time back contracted a US lobbying firm to help reverse the US Embassy’s decision to deny them legal entry into the US.
Managing Director of the US Lobbying Firm, Tom Locke, told Demerara News in April 2023, “For many years, Mr Mohamed went back and forth to the United States and has always obeyed the laws, never overstayed his visas and so forth but there had been allegations about him with terrorism, gun-running, drugs and so on and so forth and so we wanted to get that out of the way and see what happens.”
To date, the said lobbying firm was unsuccessful in removing the visa block from the Mohameds family, but it gets worse. In early June, 2024, the United States announced sanctions on the Mohameds family and their businesses, freezing all their US assets and prohibiting US persons from doing business with the Mohameds. Subsequently, the Bank of Guyana revoked the Cambio License of Mohameds Enterprises, and the Guyana Government hinted that their gold license might be at risk as investigations continue.
In 2023, the Mohameds had invested in a US 300 million dollar Exxon Mobil shore base project. A Reuters article subsequently warned that the Mohameds were under US investigation and that Exxon Mobil was advised against doing business with them. The Mohameds strongly rebutted the allegations of the Reuters article but nevertheless pulled out of the shore base investment several months later, citing religious reasons.
In Guyana, the climate has been slightly altered by the US clampdown on the Mohameds. It is not clear at this moment if they will continue their charitable works across Guyana, for how long, and to what extent. Many Guyanese are not happy with the US sanctions. They see it as a hindrance to local progress and development. But the Mohameds are not without their enemies. They have long been “at war” with local social media personality, the Guyanese Critic, and they were accused of involvement in the murder of Ricardo Fugundes, a gold dealer who had close ties to former drug kingpin Roger Khan.
