Ali takes “wheelbarrow” potshot at Azruddin Mohamed

Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 March 2026, 21:44 by Writer

Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed was the subject of a verbal swipe by President Irfaan Ali over the embattled businessman’s decision to turn up at Attorney General Anil Nandlall’s chambers with two wheelbarrows of notes and coins to pay court-awarded costs.

Mr Mohamed, who is barred from having bank accounts after he and his father, Nazar “Shell” Mohamed, were sanctioned by the United States (US) Treasury Department for alleged financial crimes linked to their gold trading business, last Thursday paid GY$900,500 in court costs with an outstanding balance of GY$99,500.

But Dr Ali, once a very close friend of the Mohameds up to when they were sanctioned in June 2024, took a potshot at the younger Mohamed, the leader of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) political party and Guyana’s Opposition Leader.

“I don’t think any individual can wheelbarrow coins in their AG office in the United States or anywhere else. And we have to deal with people who believe that they have this God-given right to abuse access and abuse the system. I don’t believe that can be tried anywhere else, and I’ve called up a few places,” said Dr Ali. 

The Mohameds are engaged in valiant court battles to avoid being extradited to the US to face trial in a Florida court for alleged financial crimes linked to their gold trading business.

The Attorney General’s Chambers accepted up to GY$500 in coins in keeping with the Bank of Guyana Act which states that coins are legal tender for settlement of public or private debt of GY$100 dollars in GY$1.00 coins; GY$250 in GY$5.00 coins, and GY$500 in GY$10 coins.