“The real issue is $191B” tax evasion – AG slams silence on Mohameds’ owed taxes

Attorney General Anil Nandlall on Tuesday evening called out persons criticising the Government’s payment of US$60,000 in legal fees for the Jamaican and Guyanese lawyers representing the United States in the extradition proceedings against indicted businessmen Azruddin and Nazar Mohamed.
Speaking on his weekly “Issues in the News” programme, Nandlall said those persons should instead be concerned about the $191 billion owed to the Government by the Mohamed’s.

“Yes, those sums of money were approved to pay the lawyers who were hired by the Government of Guyana to represent the interest of the United States Government. I’ve said that a million times, yet I’m accused of lying… But these same persons are quiet about $191 billion,” he noted.
The $191 billion he refers to is the tax claim by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) against the businessmen. The claim was made in October 2025 following an audit that found the company, Mohamed’s Enterprise, understated its income by over $34 billion for the years 2019-2023.
However, those charges were withdrawn following the US request for extradition.
Azruddin Mohamed was also facing a separate criminal charge for tax fraud in relation to the importation of a Lamborghini, but that matter was also withdrawn to facilitate the US extradition request.
The US Government, in early November, requested the extradition of the Mohameds, who have 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, between 2017 and June 11, 2024.
Nandlall on Tuesday evening referred to several fake profiles which he insinuated are connected to the Mohameds as harassing him on social media over the sum to be paid by Guyana for the extradition.
“All of them who are cursing me are the very ones who this money was taken from, or it’s their money that was taken. But that, I suppose, that’s freedom of expression; that’s freedom of political thought… And we will continue to respect the rights of every Guyanese,” he said.
Nandlall had previously explained that Guyana is legally obligated to finance the prosecution of the ongoing extradition proceedings against the Mohameds.
He had noted that the Administration’s decision to pay for the attorneys prosecuting the US extradition request follows the same international protocol that would apply if Guyana were seeking to have a fugitive returned from another country.
The Mohameds were previously sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which cited 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.
Currently, the duo are fighting their extradition before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court. Presiding over the matter, Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman scheduled oral submissions for December 8, 2025, and indicated that rulings will be delivered on December 10.
The Mohameds will know on December 10 whether the magistrate will refer the United States’ request for their extradition to the High Court of Guyana for further hearing on constitutional grounds.
They remain on bail locally, each secured at $150,000. The bail conditions remain intact as the matter advances toward a decisive legal marker next month.
Meanwhile, Nandlall had previously explained that though the GRA’s criminal charges against the father and son duo for tax fraud were dropped, the agency will still pursue the recovery of the money in a civil court.
In fact, in the Lamborghini case, the GRA intends to appeal a decision by High Court Judge Justice Gino Persaud, which ultimately blocked the tax body from retroactively reassessing and seeking to recover taxes owed on the undervalued Lamborghini.