Azruddin, Nazar Mohamed arrested after extradition request from US Govt

– indicted businessmen granted $150k bail; to report to Police station as extradition proceedings begin

United States (US)-sanctioned businessmen Azruddin Mohamed and Nazar “Shell” Mohamed were on Friday arrested in Georgetown following a formal request by the US Government for their extradition in connection with 11 charges relating to fraud, money laundering and other indictments in a Florida court.
The Guyana Government received the extradition request from the US Government on Thursday, October 30, for the Mohameds, who are the subject of an indictment unsealed on October 6, 2025, by a US Grand Jury sitting in the Southern District of Florida.

The US indictment charges them with multiple offences, including wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, aiding and abetting and customs-related violations connected to an alleged US$50 million gold export and tax evasion scheme.
Guyanese Government officials had previously indicated that they will act on any extradition request made by the US for the Mohameds.
In a statement on Friday, the Attorney General Chambers said that Thursday’s request was pursuant to an extradition treaty between the US and the United Kingdom (UK), which extends to and remains in force in Guyana under the provisions of Section 4(1)(a) of the Fugitive Offenders Act, Cap. 10:04 as amended by Act No. 10 of 2024.
The Mohameds were subsequently arrested separately on Friday morning, after an arrest warrant was issued by City Magistrate Judy Latchman, based on an application made by a team of lawyers led by Terrence Williams, KC, Herbert McKenzie and Celine Deidrick.
Azruddin Mohamed, who founded the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) political party and is gearing up to enter Parliament next week, was arrested at around 11:00h on Smyth Street in Georgetown.
The 38-year-old businessman was approached by ranks of the Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) Special Branch, handcuffed and placed in the back of a Police pick-up vehicle before being whisked away by heavily armed officers.
The Police later reported that the 73-year-old Nazar Mohamed was arrested at another location in Georgetown, also on Friday.

Extradition proceedings
The father and son duo was taken into custody at the Brickdam Police Station and later escorted to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, where they appeared before Magistrate Latchman to commence the judicial extradition process.
The Mohameds were granted bail in the sum of $150,000 each and are required to lodge their passports as well as report to the Ruimveldt Police Station every Friday pending the outcome of the proceedings.
Both of the Mohameds maintained their innocence while speaking with reporters at the city courthouse following the nearly three-hour-long hearing on Friday afternoon, with Azruddin distancing himself from the operations of Mohamed’s Enterprise – the company under which the gold was allegedly smuggled.
“I am innocent… This gold business [and] the exportation of gold is not my business. It’s my father’s business. I’m a gold miner,” the 38-year-old businessman told reporters.
However, the Florida court document states that the younger Mohamed owns 10 per cent of Mohamed’s Enterprise, while his father holds 90 per cent ownership.
Nevertheless, during Friday’s court proceedings, the two businessmen were represented by Attorneys Siand Dhurjon and Roysdale Forde, who argued that the offences for which their clients are wanted in the US are not extraditable offences.
“There is a basic principle of all extradition laws, internationally, that there must be dual criminality. So, the conduct for which they are wanted in America ought to be criminal not only in America but also in Guyana. Mail fraud and wire fraud are strangers to the laws of our land, so they’re not extraditable offences,” Dhurjon told reporters after the hearing.
However, the lawyer pointed out that the money laundering charge could fit, noting that “we will face the music concerning those offences.”
The lawyer went on to note that the defence team also alleged a constitutional breach in the amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Act – the local law under which extraditions fall.
“The constitution says where we raise such a constitutional point, the magistrate is duty-bound to refer it to the High Court. So, we come back in November…to debate on that point further,” Dhurjon stated.
Pleased with the outcome of Friday’s hearing, the attorney declared, “We don’t believe our clients are going anywhere. They’re not going to be extradited to the US, in my legal opinion.”
Attorney Forde contended that they are “nowhere close” to dealing with the extradition proceeding given the number of constitutional issues that the defence raised.
“All these issues will certainly lead to a number of challenges all the way to the CCJ (Caribbean Court of Justice),” Forde told reporters.

US indictments
Nevertheless, the AG Chambers had noted in Friday’s missive that the two Mohameds are being processed in accordance with the extradition framework set out in the provisions of the Fugitive Offenders Act, as amended, in due compliance with the relevant provisions of the Constitution of Guyana and all other relevant laws.
The Florida court indictment alleges that between 2017 and June 2024, the two accused conspired to defraud the Government of Guyana by evading export taxes and royalties on over 10,000 kilograms of gold, using falsified customs declarations and reused export seals to disguise unpaid duties. The indictment further references the attempted shipment of US$5.3 million in undeclared gold seized at the Miami International Airport and the alleged under-invoicing of a luxury vehicle valued at over US$680,000.
According to the AG Chambers, the investigation into the Mohameds by US authorities is understood to have originated in the mid-2010s, with intelligence and law-enforcement cooperation between Guyana and the United States dating back to 2016–2017. According to the indictment, the alleged fraudulent scheme operated “from in or about 2017” through June 2024.
In fact, in June 2024, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Mohameds and several of their companies, including Mohamed’s Enterprise, citing allegations of tax evasion, trade-based money laundering, and gold smuggling.
The AG Chambers said that the Guyana Government was first informed of the ongoing US investigation through official diplomatic channels following the June 2024 sanctions. Reports indicate that US agencies involved in the investigation included the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
In March 2025, the Government of Guyana received a comprehensive dossier of evidence from US authorities pursuant to mutual legal assistance arrangements. That dossier, it was noted, included documentation relating to gold export irregularities, falsified customs declarations, and undeclared shipments seized in Miami.
Meanwhile, Azruddin Mohamed is presently before the local courts in relation to the importation of a Lamborghini motor for which he evaded more than $380 million in taxes in violation of Section 217 of the Customs Act. He has also been charged with fraudulent declaration under the same act after falsifying the invoice to state a value of just US$75,300 in order to understate import taxes. That matter is still pending in the courts.