The Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) on Friday virtually ruled out granting a boat captain licence to Azruddin Mohamed.
MARAD said any responsible public authority dealing with a sanctioned person must carefully consider legal, financial, banking, contractual and compliance consequences of any proposed transaction. MARAD said it would be extraordinarily reckless as the national regulatory maritime agency to issue a licence to anyone of such sanctioned character. MARAD said the younger Mohamed’s legal troubles "cannot simply be wished away or ignored."
MARAD said it had to ensure the rules were evenly applied regardless of wealth and political status. MARAD said, "The wider issue, however, is bigger than one man and one boat." MARAD said maritime safety standards cannot be tightened for ordinary Guyanese but relaxed when a politically powerful individual wants a licence, and that relaxing standards for a politically powerful individual would be reckless.
MARAD reiterated that according to its official records neither the fast craft reportedly owned by Mr Mohamed nor Mr Mohamed himself was licensed or otherwise authorised to operate. MARAD said reports from the Joint Services concerning the recent incident are equally serious and that the vessel was reportedly encountered at night, travelling at high speed. It said the vessel was signalled to stop and allegedly failed to comply, resulting in a pursuit before it was intercepted.
The regulatory agency made known its position after Mr Mohamed claimed the refusal to grant him a new captain’s licence was part of ongoing political victimisation. Mr Mohamed is Guyana's Opposition Leader and leader of the main opposition We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party. He said he submitted all the required documents but was still awaiting approval, and that other applicants had already received their licences. The WIN leader wondered whether his driver’s licence would be renewed after it is expired.
Azruddin Mohamed has been sanctioned by the United States for alleged financial crimes. He and his father, Nazar "Shell" Mohamed, were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for alleged evasion of more than US$50 million in taxes payable to the Guyana government on more than 10,000 ounces of gold. They were indicted by a U.S. grand jury more than one year after the sanctions. Mr Mohamed and his father are currently battling a U.S. extradition request and face trial for alleged wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.
