On Friday, Guyana’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) publicly confirmed it will almost certainly reject an application for a commercial boat captain’s license from Azruddin Mohamed, a prominent Guyanese opposition leader and local businessman, citing his designation as a sanctioned individual by the United States over alleged financial crimes.
In an official statement, the national maritime regulator emphasized that any responsible public agency handling matters involving a sanctioned individual is required to thoroughly evaluate the cascading legal, financial, banking, contractual and regulatory compliance risks tied to any formal approval. “As the national maritime regulatory body, MARAD would be extraordinarily reckless to issue a license to a person of this sanctioned character,” the statement read.
Mohamed, who leads Guyana’s main opposition party We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), has already framed the ongoing license delay as a deliberate act of political victimization targeting him. He claims he has submitted all required documentation for the new license, while other less high-profile applicants have already received their approvals. He has also raised public questions about whether his civilian driver’s license will face similar blocking when it comes up for renewal.
The legal troubles facing Mohamed stretch back more than two years. First, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Mohamed and his father, Nazar “Shell” Mohamed, for allegedly evading more than $50 million in taxes owed to the Guyanese government on a shipment of over 10,000 ounces of gold. More than a year after the sanctions were imposed, a U.S. federal grand jury issued an indictment against the pair on charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering. The two men are currently fighting extradition to the United States to stand trial on the charges.
MARAD pushed back against Mohamed’s claims of political targeting, stressing that the regulatory agency cannot simply overlook or dismiss his ongoing legal and sanctions-related issues. The regulator reiterated its commitment to equal application of rules across all segments of Guyanese society, regardless of an individual’s wealth, political standing, or public profile.
“The wider issue, however, is bigger than one man and one boat. Maritime safety standards cannot be tightened for ordinary Guyanese but relaxed when a politically powerful individual wants a license. That would be reckless,” the agency noted.
In addition to the license dispute, MARAD also addressed a recent high-profile incident involving a vessel reportedly linked to Mohamed. According to official records held by the agency, neither the fast craft in question nor Mohamed himself hold valid operating licenses or authorization to run the vessel in Guyanese waters.
The agency referenced preliminary reports from Guyana’s Joint Services that outline a serious incident from recent weeks: the unlicensed vessel was spotted traveling at excessive speed at night, failed to comply with official signals to stop, and triggered a law enforcement pursuit before it was eventually intercepted.
MARAD emphasized that these alleged incidents will be fully investigated by relevant competent authorities, and the matter should not be downplayed for political reasons. “MARAD should not be politically attacked simply because its application of the law produces an inconvenient result,” the statement concluded.