After consistently accusing the PPP government of political persecution, businessman Azruddin Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed, are now seeking to pin the U.S request for their extradition to their support for the Palestinian cause.
Addressing the court during the ongoing extradition proceedings on Thursday, the Mohameds’ attorney Siand Dhurjon said the Mohameds are being targeted for their involvement in the protests in support of the Palestinian people.
“It has been known that the Mohameds have organised parades in support of the Palestinian side of the war,” the lawyer told the court.
The two men were sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in June 2024 for their alleged involvement in large-scale gold smuggling, public corruption, tax evasion and money laundering, including accusations that their company, Mohamed’s Enterprise, smuggled gold and bribed officials to facilitate the scheme.
Following those sanctions, a U.S. federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida indicted the pair on 11 charges, including conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud linked to an alleged scheme to export more than 10,000 kilograms of gold while evading more than US$50 million in taxes and royalties owed to Guyana.
The United States is seeking the extradition of the Mohameds to face those charges – charges they continue to challenge in the courts.
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