Former Guyana Gold Board Chairman GHK Lall has delivered a sharp critique of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government in an op-ed published recently, in which he points to the United States (U.S.) seizure of a US$5.3 million gold shipment linked to the Mohamed family as evidence of deep-rooted corruption within the current administration.
Lall describes the seizure, which occurred on June 11, 2024 — the very day the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions against the Mohamed family were announced — as “shocking and staggering.” He wrote, “If any Guyanese is not shocked and staggered by ‘US seized big gold shipment from Mohameds on the same day OFAC sanctions unveiled,’ then they are made of much better stuff than I am.”
The former chairman highlights the timing of the seizure as significant, noting it took place “deep into the heart of the PPP Government’s return to office,” raising serious questions about oversight.
Lall questions, “Who in the agencies of the state, and how many such agencies, stood over the processing, facilitating, and moving of such an amount of gold? Who was bypassed? Who was in the know, and who knew what to do when shipments such as these are part of a day’s work?”
Lall estimates the value of the seized shipment as roughly 1,600 ounces of gold and warns that the government’s earlier pledge to “dismantle onerous rules and regulations” has instead exposed the sector to significant abuse. “Free up any system too much, and there is the risk of a blowup and blowout. I think that US$5.3 million represents both,” he wrote.
Rejecting any insinuation that he was involved, Lall clarifies that the incident occurred four and a half years after his tenure at the Gold Board ended, yet he notes the government’s attempts to shift blame onto him persist. He claims, “It would not surprise at all, if those that the PPP Government uses to attack the few Guyanese who expose the kind of government that it is, still strenuously seek to attach that June 11, 2024 shipment to me… The effort at deflection from the corruption that has infested the PPP Government at numerous levels has some utility.”
Lall also recalls past concerns over the misuse of gold shipment seals and alleges that state agencies “stood over those shipments when they are weighed and sealed,” but some officials either “pretended not to” see wrongdoing or “looked away.”
He further alleges that a former Gold Board staff member, who faced multiple charges of serious misconduct and was removed, was rehired by the current government after the charges “quietly and efficiently slipped off the court docket.”
“There were those who collected expensive gifts, who made a living from such gratuities, through selling both information and themselves,” Lall added, speculating that some of these individuals may now be employed by the government, which he describes as “a forgiving one.”
Lall warns that the government is likely to attempt to deflect responsibility for the scandal once again. “It is likely that [the PPP leader] has a prearranged question for his next public address, so as to disown the damage done to the PPP Government, and dump that ticking time bomb somewhere else, and on someone else.”
Concluding his op-ed, Lall insists the government has only exposed its own complicity. “For five years, PPP leaders have marshalled the forces of the government to pin something, anything, on me… Take note of how the dirt and cover up always come right back onto the shoulders of the PPP Government itself… This, the PPP clique has indicted itself. Try indicting me.”
The revelations come as the U.S. continues to investigate the Mohamed family, who have faced multiple indictments and sanctions over allegations including money laundering and illegal gold exports.
