The 'assassination by invitation' story makes no sense

November 9, 20263 min read

Dear Editor,

The public relations machine enveloping Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed turned into a circus after his arrest outside the home of Special Branch Head, Prem Narine. Mr. Mohamed and his political allies from the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party expect the public to believe an insulting fairy tale. To claim he was the target of a failed, state-planned assassination attempt is an evil, foolish ruse. It relies on the absurd idea of a “willing victim” who happily walks into his own execution to accommodate his enemies.

First, the story rests on the paradox of an “assassination by invitation,” with the invitation reading, “To Mohamed: You are invited by the PPP to show up for your Assassination,” as by his own admission, Mr. Mohamed claims he received a ‘tip-off’ warning him that a police squad was waiting outside Narine’s home. For this state-sponsored plot to be real, we must accept a ridiculous premise: the government organized a secret, deadly ambush, but then relied completely on the target being warned so he would voluntarily drive straight into the kill zone to “investigate.”

Furthermore, the choice of location makes no tactical sense. Staging a chaotic shootout on the front lawn of the state’s key witness—right during sensitive US extradition proceedings^[1]—is an incredibly foolish strategy for any administration trying to silence a rival. It invites global shame and hands the defense an easy alibi of political persecution. Trying to litigate these explosive claims in the court of public opinion with pre-trial grandstanding is a colossal waste of time. The theatrical release of delayed and curated CCTV clips does nothing to establish legal truth; only the rigorous fact-finding of a courtroom can slice through this noise.

The sinister nature of this theatre becomes clear when you look at the deceptive players pulling the strings. The primary defenders of Mohamed’s narrative are familiar political chameleons. They are the exact same bad-faith actors who, in broad daylight, shamelessly attempted to rig the 2020 general elections. These individuals spent five agonizing months trying to hijack Guyana’s democracy, and they still brazenly deny their actions today. Yet, even as independent courts consistently expose their electoral fraud and bring their ringleaders to justice, these same figures have migrated their talent for fiction into Mohamed’s camp. They are using the exact same playbook of manufactured crises and institutional subversion.

This brings us to the core issue: Mr. Mohamed’s documented history as a serial liar whose deceptions have been thoroughly exposed by the law. This is not a man framed by politics; this is a man running from cold, hard facts. The legal record, including a massive 11-count federal indictment by US prosecutors^[2], shows a pattern of calculated dishonesty. The law has already exposed how he allegedly ran a multi-year scheme using falsified customs declarations to evade over US$50 million in gold taxes^[3]. If that were not enough, court records detail how he cheated the system by providing a fake invoice for a luxury Lamborghini shipped from Miami, lying about its purchase price to rob Guyana of over US$1 million in import taxes.^[4]

When an individual is legally unmasked as a fraud who fakes official documents for personal gain, their word means nothing. The logic loop of the October shooting incident is transparent: Mr. Mohamed either went to the Special Branch Head’s house to intimidate a state witness and got caught, or he knowingly drove into a suspected death trap completely defenseless. The former is a criminal tragedy; the latter is a logistical joke. It is time to look past the noisy protests of the WIN party and let the courts separate fiction from reality.

Sincerely,
Somar Sahadeo

References

Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed in custody after shooting incident outside Special Branch head’s homewww.capitolnewsonline.com ↩
Guyana father, son charged with evading taxes on smuggled goldwww.miamiherald.com ↩
US$50M gold fraud: US grand jury indicts sanctioned Guyanese Azruddin Mohamed, Nazar Mohamedguyanatimesgy.com ↩
Documents show Azruddin Mohamed bought Lamborghini for US$695,000- court records – Demerara Waves Online News- Guyanademerarawaves.com ↩

Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed in custody after shooting incident outside Special Branch head’s home

www.capitolnewsonline.com, Oct 13, 2026

The Guyana Police Force this morning confirmed that Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, his driver and a third person are in police custody following a shooting incident involving Senior Superintendent of Police and Head of Special Branch, Prem Narine. The incident occurred shortly before midnight on Monday outside Narine’s Barr Street, Kitty residence. According to a police statement, Narine was at home when he saw a black Toyota Allion, registration number PXX 5300, travelling slowly along Barr Street. The car passed his home and returned a short while later. Police said that as the vehicle approached the second time, Narine heard what appeared to be a gunshot. He took cover and fired several rounds from his service weapon in the direction of the car, which then drove away. The car was later intercepted at the junction of Vlissengen Road and Sandy Babb Street, Kitty. Its three occupants were identified as Azruddin Mohamed, 39, of Houston, East Bank Demerara; Mario Mohamed, 25, of Timehri, East Bank Demerara; and Eugene Thorne, 35, a driver, also of Timehri. Police said a search of the car, in the presence of the three men, turned up a .32 Taurus pistol with no serial number and three live .32 rounds. The men were arrested in connection with possession of a firearm and ammunition without a licence and taken to the Kitty Police Station. One spent .32 shell was recovered on the southern side of Barr Street, obliquely opposite Narine’s home, along with four spent 9mm shells. The firearm, ammunition and spent shells have been lodged for ballistic testing, and police say CCTV footage from the area will be reviewed. Mohamed has denied any knowledge of the firearm and ammunition, which were reportedly found beneath the accelerator pedal, and said the weapon was planted. He also denied any attempt to threaten or attack the officer, saying he and the two men were recording what they believed was a heavy police presence near Narine’s residence. Police have not yet responded to those claims. Narine, the Police’s spy chief, has testified in Mohamed’s ongoing extradition case. On the witness stand, he accused Mohamed of having links to several murders and described him as a security threat. Mohamed has not been charged in connection with those allegations. The three men remain in police custody as investigations continue.

Guyana father, son charged with evading taxes on smuggled gold

www.miamiherald.com, Oct 10, 2025

In Guyana, Nazar Mohamed and Azruddin Mohamed have long been members of the South American country’s business elite, making a fortune in gold trading and other dealings. They have exported hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of gold over the years, using Miami as a hub to smuggle the precious metal to Dubai in the Middle East, U.S. authorities say. But now the law has caught up with Nazar Mohamed and his son, Azruddin, an elected member of parliament in Guyana: Both have been charged in Miami federal court with conspiracy, fraud and money laundering. They’re accused of conspiring to ship at least 10,000 kilos of gold through Miami without paying Guyanese taxes and royalties between 2017 and 2024, according to an indictment filed last week. Prosecutors in Miami say the loss to Guyana’s government totals $50 million. Both father and son face possible extradition to Miami on the 11-count corruption indictment, once U.S. authorities formally make the request, Guyana’s attorney general said this week. According to the federal indictment, here’s how the father and son carried out their alleged gold-export scheme: Under Guyanese law, the government imposes a 2% export tax and a 5% royalty tax on the value of gold shipped abroad. Once those taxes are paid, wholesalers obtain government seals allowing the exportation of gold from Guyana. The Mohameds, who did business with a handful of shipping companies in Miami, “set up a system” whereby they would pay taxes and royalties in Guyana on one load of gold and obtain the appropriate government seals and customs declarations. Reused government seals: feds But then, they would “reuse the same” seals for subsequent shipments so their company, Mohamed’s Enterprise, could avoid paying taxes and royalties to the Guyanese government, according to the indictment. Four Miami shipping companies, which are not named in the indictment, coordinated the family’s gold exports via Miami to Dubai, among the world’s importation capitals of gold. As part of the scheme, the Mohameds arranged to have empty wooden boxes with intact Guyanese seals shipped from gold buyers in Dubai to Miami, according to the indictment. Then, they arranged to have those empty boxes with government seals shipped from Miami to their office in Guyana. The Mohameds “reused empty boxes with intact seals for shipments of gold to make it appear that” their company “had paid Guyana taxes and royalties on shipments of gold when, in truth and in fact, Mohamed’s Enterprise had not paid them,” according to the indictment, filed by federal prosecutors Michael Berger and Jil Simon. Both father and son are accused of paying “bribes” to Guyanese customs officials so they would accept shipments of gold by Mohamed’s Enterprise with “duplicate paperwork and reused seals” to avoid the proper payment of export taxes and royalties, the indictment says. The Mohameds “used proceeds of the conspiracy for their own person benefit,” the indictment says. ... For example, the son, Azruddin Mohamed, bought a Lamborghini for $680,000 from a dealer in California with gold-export profits and then arranged to have the luxury Italian sportscar transported to Miami and then to Guyana. But the son is accused of directing an intermediary who bought the Lamborghini to fabricate an invoice saying it only cost $75,300, the indictment says. The reason: Guyanese tax authorities charges taxes and duties of more than 100% on ceretain luxury vehicles imported into the country. By falsely decreasing the cost of his Lamborghini on the invoice, the son was able to avoid paying more than $1 million in taxes that he owed to Guyanaese authorities, the indictment says. ... Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Azruddin Mohamed, his father, Nazar, and their family business for allegedly smuggling more than 10,000 kilograms of gold to the U.S. from Guyana while evading more than $50 million in taxes — a harbinger of the indictment filed in Miami last week. Treasury officials said they were able to do so, in part, because of “extensive bribery schemes involving government officials in Guyana.”

US$50M gold fraud: US grand jury indicts sanctioned Guyanese Azruddin Mohamed, Nazar Mohamed

guyanatimesgy.com, Oct 7, 2025

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Guyanese businessmen Nazar Mohamed and his son Azruddin Mohamed, have been indicted by a grand jury in the United States (US) District Court for the Southern District of Florida. In a 12-page indictment seen by this newspaper, it highlighted 11 criminal charges ranging from wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, primarily connected to the export of gold to the US by Mohamed’s Enterprises. The Mohameds are currently facing sanctions from the US Department of the Treasury’s OFAC for gold smuggling. However, documents filed in Count one have accused the Mohameds of conspiring to defraud the US and Guyanese Governments between 2017 and June 11, 2024. The father-son duo is accused of using a scheme to unlawfully obtain property by transmitting communications via interstate and foreign commerce in violation of US laws. Reusing seals According to the prosecutors, the goal was to enrich themselves and defraud the Government of Guyana by evading taxes and royalties on gold exports. They allegedly reused Guyana Customs declarations and official seals on multiple shipments to make it appear that taxes and royalties had been paid when they had not. The indictment stated that Mohamed’s Enterprise would pay taxes and receive official Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Guyana Gold Board (GGB) seals for one shipment, then reuse those same seals and documents on subsequent, untaxed shipments. The indictment further alleges that the Mohameds arranged for empty wooden boxes bearing intact GRA and GGB seals to be shipped from gold buyers in Dubai to Miami, and then sent to Guyana. These boxes were then used to export gold while falsely appearing to have cleared customs and tax obligations. Indicted: US-sanctioned, Nazar ‘Shell’ Mohamed and son, Azruddin Mohamed US authorities allege the scheme resulted in more than US$50 million in lost taxes and royalties to the Government of Guyana. In addition, indictments two to five detail similar conduct involving shipments of gold, emails allegedly from Nazar Mohamed requesting the sealed boxes from Miami, and exports of over 165 kilograms (kg) of gold per shipment destined for Dubai. Charges six to nine focus on mail fraud, referencing the shipment of sealed empty boxes from Dubai to Miami while charge 10 addressed money laundering which alleged that the Mohameds knowingly transferred funds within the US with the intent to promote unlawful activity. Falsifying Lamborghini invoice Charge 11 alleges that Azruddin Mohamed’s purchased and imported a Lamborghini sports car to Guyana in 2020. The indictment alleges he directed someone to purchase the car for US$680,000, then falsify the invoice to state a value of US$75,300 to understate import taxes. The sanctioned businessman, who is also the leader of the We Invest In Nationhood (WIN) Party, is presently before the local courts in relation to the importation of the sports vehicle and more so, for evading more than $380 million in taxes in violation of Section 217 of the Customs Act. He has also been charged with fraudulent declaration under the same act. Forfeiture Nonetheless, the US Government is seeking forfeiture of certain assets connected to the accused. If convicted, most charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and fines of up to US$250,000 while the money laundering charge carries a fine of US$500,000 or the value of the laundered property. The indictment follows sanctions imposed over a year ago by the US Government on the Mohameds, their businesses, and Guyanese Government Permanent Secretary (PS) Mae Thomas in relation to the same allegations. In June 2024, OFAC announced that it sanctioned Azruddin Mohamed, his father Nazar Mohamed and several of their companies, including Mohamed’s Enterprise. The sanctions are related to the evasion of taxes on gold exports, with OFAC noting that between 2019 and 2023, Mohamed’s Enterprise omitted more than 10,000 kg of gold from import and export declarations and avoided paying more than US$50 million in duty taxes to the Government of Guyana. Since the imposition of the sanctions, the Guyana Government had suspended the licences of the Mohameds’ various businesses, highlighting that the US-sanctioned businessman is a risk and a threat to Guyana’s financial stability, sovereignty, and diplomacy. Subsequently, several Government entities and local businesses, including commercial banks, have cut ties with the Mohameds. Azruddin Mohamed launched the WIN Party, and contested the September 1, 2025 General and Regional elections. The party secured 16 seats in the National Assembly.

Documents show Azruddin Mohamed bought Lamborghini for US$695,000- court records – Demerara Waves Online News- Guyana

demerarawaves.com, May 15, 2025

Records obtained from the United States (US) government show that embattled city businessman, Azruddin Mohamed probably bought a Lamborghini car from an American company for US$695,000 instead of his declared value of US$75,300. Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn dispatched the records from the US Department of Justice to the Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) showing that the Texas-based International Speed Consulting Inc issued an invoice for the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster 2020 (with Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) ZHWUN6ZD1LLAO9394) on October 7, 2020 for US$695,000. A Guyana customs form dated 7th December 2020 concerning the same vehicle with the identical VIN states a value of US$75,300. The GRA, in its latest submissions, also requested and acquired official records from the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) showing that Mr Mohamed transferred a total of US$622,000 from October 5 to 7, 2020 in tranches of US$350,000 on October 5; US$250,000 on October 6 and US$22,000 on October 7 to International Speed Consulting Inc at 3608 Bristlecone Court Rockwall, Texas. The stated purposes of those transfers were for racing services and parts, race support fee and travel expenses and marketing and advertising. The GRA has specifically asked GBTI on April 23, 2025 for wire transfer records to that company between October 1 and December 31, 2020. Based on the Home Affairs Minister’s letter to the GRA, the US Department of Justice is expected to provide additional information to Guyana. “I am pleased to forward the partial submission of information received from the US Department of Justice, dated May 13, 2025” on request for information on the sale of luxury motor vehicle from the USA. Minister Benn said information on “business records certification” would also be provided. The documents are in support of another affidavit by GRA Deputy Commissioner for Law Enforcement and Investigation, Rajandra Singh who said the documents confirm that Mr Mohamed “had paid a significantly greater sum” for the Lamborghini which bears licence registration number PZZ 4000. Mr Singh said the records were obtained from the US under the the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. The GRA also accused Mr Mohamed of producing fictitious and false information to show that the car was purchased at a lower price than what was actually paid. “The applicant further supported his illegal actions by producing to this court documentation from International Speed Consulting Inc to deliberately understate the value of the said vehicle,” the GRA official said. The GRA effectively asked the High Court to find that Mr Mohamed is guilty of perjury for falsely declaring the value which was paid for the said vehicle and submitted a valuation which was false, and entering into a criminal and illegal scheme with International Speed Consulting Inc. to deceive and defraud the GRA as to the true price paid for the said vehicle.

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The 'assassination by invitation' story makes no sense in Guyana Times, November 9, 2026