Assistant US Attorney Joshua Paster, an asset forfeiture specialist, has been assigned to join the case involving Guyanese businessmen Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed at a Florida Court.
The father and son duo have been indicted by a federal grand jury in the US District Court of the Southern District of Florida on 11 criminal charges, including wire fraud, mail fraud, tax evasion and money laundering. The charges are linked primarily to alleged irregularities in gold exports to the US through their company, Mohamed’s Enterprises.
The US had made a request for the Mohameds to be extradited to face the indictments. Those extradition proceedings are currently pending in the local courts.
Nonetheless, in a court document filed in Florida and seen by Guyana Times, it states that Attorney Paster would be appearing as a counsel for the United States “regarding any forfeiture issues” in the case styled United States of America vs Nazar Mohamed et al.
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 US 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 addresses money laundering, which alleges 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 purchasing and importing 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.
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 US Government is seeking forfeiture of certain assets connected to the accused. Hence, the assignment of Paster to the case, pending the extradition of the Mohameds, is being seen as significant.
The Assistant US Attorney is an experienced prosecutor in high-value forfeiture and transnational corruption cases. Just last year, he was part of a prosecutorial team that secured over US$20 million in a civil forfeiture case linked to a Venezuelan bribery and money-laundering scheme.
The indictment follows sanctions imposed over a year ago by the US Department of Justice’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) 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 has 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.
The Mohameds are currently out on $150,000 bail each, as they continue to fight their extradition. The case had been adjourned to February 5.
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