The man most likely to become Guyana’s opposition leader in the coming weeks has been indicted by an American grand jury in Florida on a string of charges related to money laundering, bribery, tax evasion, wire and mail fraud, among others, official documents made available this week show.
Azruddin Mohamed, 38, who formed the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) political party with other family members at the end of May to contest the Sept. 1 general elections, is facing 20 years in an American prison if convicted. The indictments were unsealed for him and his father, Nazar, in Florida’s Southern District last week.
The upstart party, dominated by a younger generation of voters, surprised the Guyanese electorate by winning 16 of the 65 seats, outdoing A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), which had been the official opposition from the 2020 general elections. The APNU picked up only 12 seats, dropped 19 at the polls, and made way for the younger Mohamed to be sworn in as opposition leader when the new parliamentary term begins shortly.
But his time as the shadow Guyanese president could be short-lived, especially if US authorities push for his extradition to face the charges.
Last year, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on the Mohameds for allegedly participating in a scheme to ship more than 10,000 kilograms of gold to the US and avoiding US$50 million in taxes to Guyana.
The unsealed document accused the Mohameds of operating a fraudulent scheme between 2017 and mid-2024 with the intention “to further the objects of the conspiracy, combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with each other and others, known and unknown to the grand jury, to commit offenses against the United States.”
It alleged that the family had reused empty boxes with official state revenue seals for gold shipments “to make it appear that Mohamed’s Enterprise had paid Guyana taxes and royalties on shipments of gold when, in truth and in fact, Mohamed’s Enterprise had not paid them on those shipments of gold.” The indictment also accused the business people of bribing customs and other officials to accept fake paperwork to allow shipments to be sent to the US.
The indictments come just as preparations are underway for the new parliamentary term following general elections on Sept. 1.
Mohamed, who drives Lamborghini and other high-end cars around the city, has already indicated that he will take up the opposition leader’s position when parliament resumes in the coming weeks.
Officials say that the younger Mohamed will still be able to serve as opposition leader until and unless a court convicts him. “There is nothing to stop him unless he is convicted. Only then can he serve as a parliamentarian,” Assembly Clerk Sherlock Issacs told this publication.
The administration of President Irfaan AIi, which won a second consecutive term last month, has accused Mohamed of forming a political party to seek parliamentary protection from extradition allegations, which he has denied.
Until the Treasury Department had imposed sanctions on him, the Mohamed family had been one of the main financiers of the governing People’s Progressive Party (PPP).
Current President Ali used security guards employed by Mohamed as his personal protection personnel during the 2020 campaign, and he also used a bulletproof vehicle belonging to the family while on the campaign trail.
However, the administration quickly distanced itself from any links to the family once the sanctions had been imposed, their businesses and commercial bank accounts closed, guards disarmed, and local enterprises banned from conducting any transactions with the family.
