Prosecutors in Mohameds extradition case represent US Govt not Guyana – AG Nandlall dispels misinformation

– says US has jurisdiction to prosecute Mohameds before a Magistrate

Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, SC, has clarified that the prosecutors appearing in the extradition proceedings against Azruddin and Nazar Mohamed are representing the Government of the United States of America (USA), not the Government of Guyana, as misinformation circulating in sections of the media has suggested. Speaking during a recent interview on the matter, the AG firmly rejected claims that the case is politically motivated or locally driven, explaining that the US Government – as the requesting state – has jurisdiction to prosecute the accused.
“The offences that are charged are not political in nature in any form or fashion,” Nandlall said. “After the US sanctions were announced and it became clear that extradition requests would follow, one of the subjects entered politics. He made it political and is now using politics as a shield.”
The Guyanese businessmen are to be extradited to the US to face charges of fraud and money laundering. In fact, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)-sanctioned Mohameds have already been indicted by a grand jury in the US 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 Mohameds’ Enterprises. The father-son duo was sanctioned by OFAC in 2024.
According to AG Nandlall, extradition law requires countries to make necessary domestic adjustments to facilitate such requests under their respective treaties. “It is an accepted and established principle of extradition law that domestic arrangements must be adjusted to accommodate extradition. All countries are required to do it,” the AG explained. Addressing confusion about the legal representation, Nandlall stated, “The prosecutors who are appearing in this matter are representing the Government of the United States of America. That fact is not yet appreciated. The Jamaican lawyers – very seasoned veterans – are representing the US’ interest, not Guyana. It’s an American request that they are prosecuting.”

Tax recovery
The AG also dismissed suggestions that Guyana has “given up” potential tax revenues by cooperating with the extradition request. On Thursday last, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) confirmed that tax charges against the Guyanese businessmen and gold dealers were withdrawn and discontinued due to a request from the US for their extradition.
In a statement, the GRA said the charges, originally filed on October 24, 2025, were “withdrawn and wholly discontinued” following the Government of Guyana’s decision to comply with the US extradition request. The agency cited legal principles including international comity, appropriateness, and fairness as guiding the decision.
The charges stemmed from an extensive GRA audit of Mohamed’s Enterprise’s gold export records and financial statements. The review of income and property tax returns for years of assessment 2020 to 2024 (income years 2019–2023) had found that the Mohameds failed to submit true and correct returns, resulting in $34.07 billion in understated taxes and total sums due, including interest, calculated at $191.17 billion.
Against this backdrop, AG noted that Guyana retains full legal authority to recover outstanding taxes through separate civil and administrative processes.
“These charges are criminal in nature. One can go to jail and still not recover taxes. The penalties involve either treble the value of what was evaded or imprisonment. Serving a sentence does not recover the taxes,” he clarified.

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 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’s purchase and importation of 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 now 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 on their part, 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, Mohameds 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, citing risk assessment procedures and international banking regulations.