Guyanese businessmen Azruddin Mohamed and Nazar Mohamed will be extradited to the United States to face charges of fraud and money laundering, once the authorities there formally make the request, according to Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall.
During his programme ‘Issues in the News’ on Tuesday, Nandlall said no request has yet been made.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)-sanctioned Mohameds have been indicted by a grand jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on 11 criminal charges ranging from wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, primarily connected to the export of gold to the US by their company Mohamed’s Enterprises.
The father-son duo was sanctioned by OFAC in 2024.
As such, Nandlall contended that “no one ought to be surprised that these indictments were laid. They were long in the pipeline. The OFAC sanctions sent the first signal…”
He explained that the next step is for the US to request of the Guyana Government, the extradition of the Mohameds.
“This process which will be embarked upon is a legal one and it’s contained in an extradition framework between the Government of the United States and the Government of Guyana,” he said.
“The framework is captured in two main instruments: a treaty which dates back to 1931 between the United Kingdom and the United States and a piece of legislation known as the Fugitive Offenders Act which was amended as recently as 2024,” he added.
According to Nandlall, extradition between Guyana and the United States is not of recent vintage.
“As I said, it dates back to over a century ago long before the nation state of Guyana was born, when we were a colony of the United Kingdom, it existed in the form of the Fugitive Offenders Act of 1881. It was an applied act of the United Kingdom’s parliament that applied directly to Guyana because we were a colony of Great Britain and that’s how the colonial legal system worked. And then it was enhanced by a treaty executed between Great Britain and the United States of America in 1931. That’s almost exactly 100 years ago,” he further explained.
The attorney general outlined that in its current construct, the process begins with a request from the Government of the United States to the Government of Guyana.
“Once that request is made, a process which is outlined both in the Fugitive Offenders Act is triggered and a series of legal steps have to be followed. All of which are outlined in the legislation,” Nandlall noted.
He posited that Guyana and the US have a long history of cooperating on these matters, with successful extraditions as recent as this year.
No request has been refused
“In Guyana’s independent history at least, I know of no request for extradition that has been refused by any Government of Guyana,” he said, adding that the relationship between the two countries is relationship is based upon mutuality and reciprocity.
“Guyana has made it very clear that it is ready, willing and most able, to diligently discharge its legal duties and obligations on the current extradition framework that exists with the United States of America in relation to this matter. And we remain committed to that course. At this point in time, we are awaiting the request. Once the request is received, then the requisite legal process will unfold in accordance with the procedure set out in the law,” he said.
Meanwhile, Nandlall also responded to reports that these actions by the US are being motivated or inspired by local political agenda or incentive.
“To conceive that the PPP has the ability to influence the mighty Department of Justice of the United States of America and the accompanying law enforcement agencies of the US to carry out political agendas of the PPP, to think that the PPP is able to persuade those mighty organisations to carry out its political agenda. That must be the product of a special mind. Nobody else would conceive something that is so outrageous,” he expressed.
Conspiring to defraud
The Mohameds are accused of conspiring to defraud the US and Guyanese Governments between 2017 and June 11, 2024. The father-son duo is accused of using a scheme to unlawfully obtain property by transmitting communications via interstate and foreign commerce in violation of US laws.
According to the prosecutors, the goal was to enrich themselves and defraud the Government of Guyana by evading taxes and royalties on gold exports.
They allegedly reused Guyana Customs declarations and official seals on multiple shipments to make it appear that taxes and royalties had been paid when they had not. The indictment stated that Mohamed’s Enterprise would pay taxes and receive official Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Guyana Gold Board (GGB) seals for one shipment, then reuse those same seals and documents on subsequent, untaxed shipments.
The indictment further alleges that the Mohameds arranged for empty wooden boxes bearing intact GRA and GGB seals to be shipped from gold buyers in Dubai to Miami, and then sent to Guyana.
These boxes were then used to export gold while falsely appearing to have cleared customs and tax obligations.
US authorities allege the scheme resulted in more than US$50 million in lost taxes and royalties to the Government of Guyana.
Additional indictments detail similar conduct involving shipments of gold, emails allegedly from Nazar Mohamed requesting the sealed boxes from Miami, and exports of over 165 kilograms (kg) of gold per shipment destined for Dubai. Charges six to nine focus on mail fraud, referencing the shipment of sealed empty boxes from Dubai to Miami while charge 10 addressed money laundering which alleged that the Mohameds knowingly transferred funds within the US with the intent to promote unlawful activity.
The other charge has to do with Azruddin Mohamed’s purchased and imported a Lamborghini sports car to Guyana in 2020. The indictment alleges he directed someone to purchase the car for US$680,000, then falsify the invoice to state a value of US$75,300 to understate import taxes. The sanctioned businessman, who is also the leader of the We Invest In Nationhood (WIN) Party, is presently before the local courts in relation to the importation of the sports vehicle and more so, for evading 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.
The US Government is seeking forfeiture of certain assets connected to the accused. If convicted, most charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and fines of up to US$250,000 while the money laundering charge carries a fine of US$500,000 or the value of the laundered property.
The indictment follows sanctions imposed over a year ago by the US Government on the Mohameds, their businesses, and Guyanese Government Permanent Secretary (PS) Mae Thomas in relation to the same allegations.
The sanctions are related to the evasion of taxes on gold exports, with OFAC noting that between 2019 and 2023, Mohamed’s Enterprise omitted more than 10,000 kg of gold from import and export declarations and avoided paying more than US$50 million in duty taxes to the Government of Guyana. Since the imposition of the sanctions, the Guyana Government had suspended the licences of the Mohameds’ various businesses, highlighting that the US-sanctioned businessman is a risk and a threat to Guyana’s financial stability, sovereignty, and diplomacy.
Subsequently, several Government entities and local businesses, including commercial banks, have cut ties with the Mohameds.
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