GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The lawyer representing Opposition Leader, Azruddin Mohamed and his billionaire businessman father, Nazar Shell Mohamed, says politics has played a role in the extradition case involving his clients.
Last October, a US Federal Grand Jury unsealed an 11-count indictment on the Mohameds for alleged wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering. Subsequently, the US requested their extradition to face trial for those alleged crimes.
The extradition matter is now before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman, and attorney Siand Dhurjon told the court that “in this case, our whole contention is that this extradition process has been politically motivated.
“Every facility of government has been deployed to fast-track its process,” Dhurjon said, as he cross-examined Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sharon Roopchand-Edwards, in his bid to show that she made special efforts to transmit the extradition request to Minister of Home Affairs, Oneidge Walrond.
Roopchand disagreed with the suggestion that the reason she brought the documents to the Home Affairs Minister on Thursday night was that she knew Monday was Parliament and that there was only one day left for the defendants to be arrested.
The Mohameds were arrested on October 31, 2025. Mohamed, who is the leader of the 16-seat main opposition We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), was granted GUY$150,000 (One Guyana dollar=US$0.008cents) bail.
The Permanent Secretary also disagreed with the lawyer’s suggestion that she knew there was only one day left for the court to sit and issue warrants and potentially remand the defendants.
Referring to last week’s arrest of Ronley Floyd Bynoe by Guyana police, who are wanted by US authorities after issuing an extradition last November, Dhurjon said, “our case is that there is no other extradition in history that has been moved at such a breakneck speed as this one through the governmental channels, the diplomatic and governmental channels”.
He said he was using the Bynoe case “to show that it’s outside of the pattern” as he went through the administrative process for transmitting extradition requests from the Foreign Ministry to the Home Affairs Ministry.
Roopchand-Edwards said she could either have the requests delivered to the Treaty Officer at the Home Affairs Ministry or take them directly to the Home Affairs Minister.
The defence has so far failed to have the High Court halt the extradition committal proceedings on the alleged basis that Walrond’s issuance of the Authority To Proceed was infected by political bias against them.
The Guyana Court of Appeal will hear that case on March 10.
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