A federal grand jury in Miami has indicted former Guyana presidential candidate Azruddin Mohamed and his father, accusing them of running a years-long scheme to evade millions of dollars in taxes and royalties owed to the Government of Guyana through fraudulent gold export practices and related money laundering activities, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.
According to court documents cited by the DOJ, Azruddin Mohamed, 38, and his father, Nazar Mohamed, 72, owned Mohamed’s Enterprise, a gold wholesaler and exporter in Guyana that shipped gold to buyers in Miami and Dubai.
Alleged scheme involved fraudulent gold exports and reused government seals
Guyana imposes roughly a 7% tax and duty on exported gold, the DOJ said. From about 2017 through at least 2024, the father and son duo enriched themselves and defrauded the Guyanese government by concealing the true quantity and value of gold their company exported, prosecutors said.
The indictment alleges the Mohameds devised a system in which Mohamed’s Enterprise paid taxes and royalties on one shipment of gold to obtain official government seals, then reused those same seals on additional shipments to avoid paying further taxes and royalties. They allegedly shipped empty boxes bearing Guyanese government seals from Dubai through Miami to Guyana and paid bribes to customs and other government officials to move the illegal shipments, the DOJ said.
Father and son duo moved at least 10,000 kilograms of gold through Miami, DOJ says
Prosecutors say the pair exported at least 10,000 kilograms of gold through Miami, causing an estimated loss of about $50 million to the Government of Guyana.
Nazar Mohamed is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and mail fraud. His son, Azruddin Mohamed, is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud.
The indictment also alleges that Azruddin Mohamed ran a separate scheme to evade more than $1 million in Guyanese taxes tied to shipping a Lamborghini from Miami to Guyana. Prosecutors are also seeking forfeiture of roughly $5.3 million in gold bars shipped by Mohamed’s Enterprise and seized at Miami International Airport on June 11, 2024.
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Both men were sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in June 2024. Azruddin Mohamed, who unsuccessfully ran for president of Guyana in September 2025, is an incoming member of the country’s parliament.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jose R. Figueroa and Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel of Homeland Security Investigations in Miami and New York announced the charges.
The case was investigated by HSI Miami and New York, IRS Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, and Customs and Border Protection.
Senior Litigation Counsel Michael N. Berger and Trial Attorney Jil Simon of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case, and Deputy Chief Josh Paster is handling asset forfeiture, the DOJ press release said.