The man Guyanese voters recently elected to be the country’s opposition leader was arrested by local police on Friday and is being prepared for extradition to the US to face a string of financial charges, officials said.
Azruddin Mohamed, 38, was handcuffed by police a mere four days before parliament is to meet in its first session since the Sept. 1 general elections.
Mohamed’s party, We Invest in Nationhood, won 16 of the 65 seats, making it the second largest party in the country after the governing People’s Progressive Party (PPP).
Mohamed was tipped to be elected as the opposition leader, but it is unclear now whether he will be able to take up his seat.
His father, Nazar Mohamed, was also arrested. Both were sanctioned by the US Treasury Department last year on charges related to wire fraud, money laundering, and the evasion of US$50 million in taxes to Guyana through the smuggling of more than 10,000 kilograms of gold to the US in recent years.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall reported that the US had formally requested his extradition this week, hence his arrest.
“The Mohameds are the subject of an indictment unsealed on Oct. 6, 2025, by a United States Grand Jury sitting in the Southern District of Florida, which charges them with multiple offences including wire fraud, mail fraud, money-laundering, conspiracy, aiding and abetting and customs-related violations connected to an alleged US $50 million gold export and tax evasion scheme,” Nandlall said in a social media posting.
WIN party spokesperson Khamelia Mohamed criticized the arrest of her brother and father, calling it a horrible day for Guyana.
“If this is what democracy looks like in Guyana, then we are in a very sad state. If this is a deliberate tactic to prevent him from taking this role as opposition leader, then all I can say is that we are in a very sad state”, she told reporters outside the courthouse.
Once fundamentalist supporters of the PPP, the two parties have had a bitter parting of ways, with the PPP making no secret of its desire to remove Azruddin Mohamed from the local political scene.
The two have since been released on bail at $750.00 each while hearings for their extradition are to proceed in the coming weeks.
