Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman on Friday granted bail in the sum of $150,000 each to embattled businessman Azruddin Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed, following an extradition hearing at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
The court ordered that both men lodge their passports at the court. The duo was also ordered to report to the Ruimveldt Police Station every Friday between 13:00 and 15:00 hrs, starting Friday, November 7, 2025.
They are being represented by Attorneys-at-Law Siand Dhurjon, Nigel Hughes, and Roysdale Forde.
During the hearing, the prosecutor strongly objected to the granting of bail, describing the two businessmen as “flight risks” given the seriousness of the offences and the ongoing extradition request filed by the U.S. Government.
Attorney-at-law Siand Dhurjon argued that the move to extradite the father and son is unconstitutional and outside the court’s jurisdiction, adding that his clients were never questioned or given an opportunity to respond prior to being arrested.
Meanwhile, Attorney-at-law Roysdale Forde echoed the constitutional objections, maintaining that the prosecution’s “flight risk” argument has no legal basis.
Forde also noted that Azruddin Mohamed is the presumptive Leader of the Opposition, underscoring that both men have deep ties to the country and are willing to comply fully with any conditions imposed by the court — including surrendering their passports and reporting as often as directed by the magistrate.
The Guyana Chronicle had previously reported that, according to a statement from the Attorney-General’s Chambers, “Nazar Mohamed and Azruddin Mohamed were arrested this morning by members of the Guyana Police Force, duly authorised to do so by a warrant issued by a Magistrate of the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.”
The arrests follow a formal request from the Government of the United States on October 30, 2025, seeking the extradition of the two men “pursuant to an extradition treaty between Guyana and the United Kingdom which extends to and remains in force in Guyana under the provisions of Section 4(1)(a) of the Fugitives Offenders Act, Cap. 10:04, as amended by Act No. 10 of 2024.”
The AG Chambers detailed that the arrest warrant was issued after a team of attorneys, King’s Counsel Terrence Williams, Herbert McKenzie, and Celine Deidrick , presented to the Magistrate an Authority to Proceed from the Government of Guyana, accompanied by an application for an arrest warrant “as is mandated under the provision of the Act.”
The statement further revealed that the Mohameds are the subject of an indictment unsealed on October 6, 2025, by a U.S. Grand Jury in the Southern District of Florida, charging them with multiple offences, including wire fraud, mail fraud, money-laundering, conspiracy, aiding and abetting, and customs-related violations linked to an alleged US$50 million gold export and tax evasion scheme.
“The indictment alleges that between 2017 and June 2024, the 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 re-used export seals to disguise unpaid duties,” the statement outlined.
The indictment also references “the attempted shipment of US$5.3 million in undeclared gold seized at Miami International Airport, and the alleged under-invoicing of a luxury vehicle valued at over US$680,000.”
According to the AG Chambers, U.S. authorities began investigating the Mohameds in the mid-2010s, with intelligence and law-enforcement cooperation between Guyana and the U.S. dating back to 2016–2017.
The alleged scheme is said to have operated “from in or about 2017 through June 2024.”
The statement recalled that in June 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Mohameds and Mohamed’s Enterprise for alleged tax evasion, trade-based money-laundering, and gold smuggling.
The Government of Guyana, the statement said, was officially informed of the U.S. investigation “through diplomatic channels following the June 2024 sanctions.”
U.S. agencies involved include the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
In March 2025, the Guyanese Government received a comprehensive dossier of evidence from U.S. authorities under mutual legal assistance arrangements. The documents reportedly contained evidence of falsified customs declarations, gold export irregularities and undeclared shipments seized in Miami.
The AG Chambers said that “the two Mohameds will now be 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.”
