President Ali signals impending crackdown on gold sector

President Dr. Irfaan Ali issued a stern warning to gold producers who continue to under-declare their production, stressing that the government will “come after you hard” through intensified efforts to close loopholes and stop massive revenue losses in the sector.

The President emphasised that companies have a responsibility to comply fully with declaration requirements.

Dr. Ali highlighted the staggering cost of gold smuggling to the national economy, pointing to one smuggler whose alleged actions resulted in more than $190 billion in losses.

“Imagine from one gold smuggler alone this economy lost more than $190 billion,” the President said as he addressed the opening ceremony of GuyExpo 2025.

He added, “We must ensure our system does not produce those kinds of people anymore. The system must be designed to ensure these leakages are removed.”

He noted that funds lost to smuggling could have been used “to support our small and medium enterprises, to support our cash grant programme.”

The President’s comments come as U.S. authorities move forward with criminal charges against well-known Guyanese businessmen Azruddin Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed. The two, associated with Mohamed’s Enterprise, were indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The indictment outlines 11 charges, including gold smuggling, wire fraud, and money laundering.

In 2024, both men were also sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for alleged involvement in corrupt practices and illicit gold trading.

Extradition proceedings against the businessmen are currently ongoing.