Businessmen, Nazar Mohamed and Azruddin Mohamed were granted bail in the sum of $150,000 each this afternoon by Senior Magistrate, Judy Latchman after they were taken before the Court for an extradition hearing.

The US Government on Thursday formally requested the extradition of the father and son to face an 11-count indictment in Florida related to allegations of mail and wire fraud and money laundering. The Chambers of the Attorney General announced this afternoon that it received the request from the US on Thursday.

The announcement came following the dramatic arrest of Azruddin Mohamed outside the Guyana Revenue Authority Smyth Street Office and the arrest of Nazar Mohamed at his Lombard Street office. The two were taken to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Police Force, and once there, they were told of the request related to the US indictment.

The father and son were handcuffed to each other as they were brought down to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court to face a hearing in relation to the extradition.

The Prosecution was represented by Special Prosecutors, Terrence Williams and Herbert McKenzie. Mohamed was represented by a battery of Attorneys including Siand Dhurjon, Nigel Hughes and Senior Counsel Roysdale Force.

During the hearing the two sides clash over bail, with the Prosecution objecting to bail. However, the Magistrate eventually granted bail in the sum of $150,000. Additionally the Mohameds were asked to surrender their passports to the Court and appear at the Ruimvedlt Police Station every Friday for the remainder of the hearing. Their next Court appearance will be on the 10th November.

Attorney, Siand Dhurjon, who is representing the Mohameds, told reporters after the hearing that the offences that have been filed against his clients in the United States are not extraditable offenses. He said the majority of offences do not even appear as offences in local laws.

“There are not extraditable offences under the laws of our land or even the treaty with which we have an arrangement. We also sought that there be a referral under Article 153 of the Constitution because we have alleged a constitutional breach with the amendment to the Fugitive Offenders’ Act. The Constitution says where we raise such a Constitutional point, the Magistrate is duty bound to refer the matter to the High Court, so we come back in November, on the 10th, to debate on that point further”, the Attorney told reporters.

Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde said no evidence was presented to the Court for the extradition, but rather there were unsubstantiated statements made.

“You cant make such allegations bordering on treason and come to the Court and simply made a statement”, he said in response to some of the claims that were made about the Mohameds having ties to Venezuela and criminal gangs in both Guyana and Venezuela.

After bail was granted, Azruddin Mohamed and Nazar Mohamed declared their innocence and their plan to fight the extradition charges. Azruddin Mohamed, who is also the Leader of the main opposition, WIN party, said the Government of Guyana is fully behind all of the maneuvers that have been taking place. He said he has never been involved in gold smuggling and is innocent of the claims that that have been made by the United States in the indictment.

In early October, the father and son, who were already under US sanctions, were indicted by a grand jury in the US Southern Florida District on allegations of wire and mail fraud and money laundering. Most of the charges are related to gold exports to the United States by Mohamed’s Enterprises, which is owned by the two.

The indictment is 12 pages long and contains 11 various counts related to mail and wire fraud and money laundering allegations.

Some of the charges allege that between 2017 and 2024, the Mohameds through their company, dodged paying taxes and royalties in Guyana by reusing declaration and royalty documents from one single shipment for multiple shipments of gold from Guyana. The charges also allege that wooden boxes carrying the seals of the Guyana Revenue Authority and the Guyana Gold Board were imported into Guyana and used repeatedly for gold exports, alleging that by the actions, the Mohameds were allegedly able to dodge paying more than US$50 Million in taxes.

One of the charges also alleges falsifying of purchase documents for a luxury sports car that was bought by the son, Azruddin Mohamed, and imported to Guyana. The US Court documents allege that with the cost of the car allegedly falsified, the younger Mohamed dodged paying millions of dollars in taxes in Guyana.

The Mohameds, who were sanctioned in 2024 by the US Government in relation to the same allegations, along with Government Permanent Secretary Mae Thomas, have repeatedly denied the allegations.

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