APNU tells Azruddin Mohamed to defend himself publicly, “come clean” on accusations against gov’t officials

Last Updated on Saturday, 11 October 2025, 14:24 by Writer

The opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) on Saturday called on Guyana’s next Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and his father, Nazar “Shell” Mohamed to defend themselves publicly against a string of local and foreign accusations.

“We are of the view that Azruddin Mohamed, considering his new political and constitutional responsibilities to the Guyanese people, must address the charges directly and openly. He should provide the necessary information or evidence to reassure the public of his compliance with the country’s tax laws and therefore of his innocence,” APNU said in a statement issued a day after talks evidently collapsed with Azruddin Mohamed’s We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) political party over the chairmanship and vice chairmanship of several regional councils after the September 1 general and regional elections.

WIN has since accused APNU of colluding with the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) to shut it out. WIN, with 16 seats, dislodged the People’s National Congress Reform, through APNU, from being the main opposition party for the first time in Guyana’s history. APNU won a mere 12 seats.

APNU’s call was issued against the backdrop of the recent United States’ Grand Jury’s 11-count indictment against the Mohameds on fraud and money laundering allegations linked to evasion of taxes on gold exports and the purchase of a Lamborghini luxury car, and the Guyana Revenue Authority demanding GY$34 million in outstanding income taxes for 2019-2023 – now GY$191.1 billion as a result of accrued interest – due to “untrue declarations.”

APNU said it was insufficient for the Mohameds to make general claims of innocence and so they should provide paperwork publicly.

“As businessmen, he and his father must be in possession of the relevant documents of all the transactions now under scrutiny by local and foreign law enforcement agencies. We encourage him to reveal them to the Guyanese people,” APNU said.

With the Guyanese authorities on standby to act on a now likely U.S. request for the extradition of the Mohameds – already sanctioned by the United States (U.S) Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) – APNU said Guyana’s laws and principles of natural justice must run their course in the legal process of establishing the Mohameds’ guilt or innocence. “We will, therefore, object to any political interference or violation of rights as this matter unfolds,” APNU said in reaction to Attorney General Anil Nandlall’s publicly stated position that government was on standby to act on a U.S. extradition request.

Demerara Waves Online News was reliably informed that the Mohameds could be arrested by Guyanese police immediately on Guyana’s receipt of the extradition request.

They could challenge their extradition in the High Court all the way to Guyana’s apex court, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), a process that can take years, during which time they can be released on bail.

Mr Azruddin had said he and his father would fight the extradition request in the courts.

APNU also indicated its disgust that Mr. Azruddin, both before and after the recent general and regional efforts elections, had claimed to be in possession of incriminating evidence of criminality by government officials.

“That Mr. Mohamed has instead chosen to leverage the information he claims he possesses to engage in veiled threats is not what the Guyanese people deserve. If he understands his responsibilities as a citizen and as a political leader, he should come clean,” APNU said.

The first, that party said, was June this year, when he revealed text conversations with President Irfaan Ali that purportedly implicated the President in the Lamborghini tax evasion scandal. APNU also pointed out that just a few days ago, the WIN leader clearly implied that he is prepared to ‘sing like a canary’ and make further revelations against government officials.

“The APNU Coalition firmly believes that should Mr. Mohamed have credible evidence of criminal activity by the government or any other officials, he should see it as his civic and moral duty to present such evidence to the police or to the public,” APNU said.

For his part, Attorney General Nandlall earlier this week fended off Mr Azruddin’s allegations that he was engaged in casino-related money laundering in Guyana and neighbouring Suriname.

“I own, neither wholly nor in part, any casino operations in Guyana or Suriname. I am not in partnership with any person or entity,” said Mr Nandlall whose office is Guyana’s key focal point in the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force and its France-headquartered global parents body, the Financial Action Task Force.

The Attorney General said his friend, whom he believed is being described as his ‘business partner’, was questioned once by U.S. law enforcement authorities at an airport in the United States.

“I am informed that many of the questions related to whether he had any business relationship with the Mohameds. He answered in the negative. I have no reason to doubt him,” Mr Nandlall said.

Saturday is the first time that APNU has forcefully called on WIN to address the now more-than-one-year old accusations.