GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Just over a month after leading his newly formed We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) political party to become the main opposition party in the National Assembly, businessman Azruddin Mohamed has been indicted by a United States grand jury on several fraud-related charges.
US authorities stated that Mohamed and his businessman father, Nazar “Shell” Mohamed, have been charged with wire and mail fraud, as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering, stemming from tax evasion related to gold exports and the importation of a Lamborghini luxury car.
If found guilty on the charges of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, the Mohameds, who were sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in June last year, could separately face a maximum of 20 years on each count, as well as maximum supervised release of three years, a maximum fine of US$250,000 or twice the gross pecuniary gain or loss.
On the charges of wire fraud, the politician-businessman could also be sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment and a maximum supervised release of three years, and a fine of US$250,000 or twice the gross pecuniary gain or loss.
The Grand Jury is also seeking a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a fine of US$500,000 or the value of the property involved in the transaction for conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The US is also asking the court that “upon conviction…as alleged in this Indictment, the defendants “shall forfeit to the United States any property, real or personal, which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to such offense.”
The indictment states that the property directly subject to forfeiture as a result of the alleged offenses includes, but is not limited to, the following: a shipment containing approximately US$5.3 million in gold bars shipped from Guyana by Mohamed’s Enterprise, seized at Miami International Airport on June 11, 2024.
The unsealed indictment states that in the case of Azruddin Mohamed, from in or around 2017, and continuing through on or about June 11, 2024, in Miami-Dade County in the Southern District of Florida, and elsewhere, the defendants, did knowingly, and with the intent 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.
The indictment states that the purpose of the conspiracy was for the defendants to unlawfully enrich themselves and defraud the government of Guyana in connection with taxes and royalties owed.
The US accuses the Mohameds of reusing empty boxes with intact Guyana Revenue Authority and Guyana Gold Board seals for “shipments of gold 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 Grand Jury also accuses the Mohameds of paying bribes to Guyanese government officials, including customs officials, so that customs officials would accept shipments of gold by Mohamed’s Enterprise with duplicate paperwork and reused seals, thereby avoiding the proper payment of Guyanese taxes and royalties, GRA and GGB seals from Miami to Mohamed’s Enterprise office in Guyana.
“Nazar Mohamed and Azruddin Mohamed reused empty boxes with intact GRA and GGB seals for shipments of gold 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 court document states.
In terms of the Lamborghini purchase and exportation to Guyana, the US Grand jury states that he directed an unnamed individual to acquire a Lamborghini from California, which cost approximately $680,000, for his benefit. This acquisition caused the shipment of the Lamborghini via private and commercial interstate carriers from Miami to Guyana.
He also directed “Individual 1” to create an invoice to make it falsely appear that the Lamborghini cost $ US$75,300 when, in truth and in fact, the Lamborghini cost approximately US$680,000, and caused the false Lamborghini invoice to be presented to the GRA and thereby avoided over one million dollars in taxes he owed to the GRA.
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