“Paper Shorts” murder: Fresh evidence leads to arrest of Opposition leader’s former security guard

The ongoing investigations into the murder of Ricardo “Paper Shorts” Fagundes, who was killed execution-style in March 2021 outside a popular Main Street, Georgetown, nightspot, took a turn on Thursday with the arrest of a former security detail of now Opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed.

A source close to the investigations confirmed that Mark Richmond, who was implicated in the murder of Fagundes, turned himself in to Police on Thursday morning in the company of his Attorney, Damion DaSilva.

“The detective went to arrest him on Thursday morning at his house and he wasn’t there, but later in the day he turned up with his lawyer,” the source stated.

According to information received, detectives handling the case have gathered new evidence regarding leading up to and on the night Fagundes was riddled with bullets. This evidence, however, was not immediately made available.

Richmond was arrested back in 2022 after he posted videos on Facebook on August 11, 12, 13, and 19 shortly after he was arrested by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) in relation to cocaine found in a house on Norton Street, Georgetown, and later released, accusing the United States of sanctions and indicting Azruddin Mohamed and senior Police officers of a massive cover-up in the investigation into the execution of Fagundes.

During the live broadcast, Bascom named Richmond as one of the suspects in the murder and stated that, using technology, detectives were able to place him at the crime scene when the murder occurred.
Further, Bascom went a step further by implicating businessman Azruddin Mohamed, who is linked to Mohamed’s Enterprise, in the murder investigation by claiming phone records show that the suspect was in contact with him at the time of the killing.

A week after the live broadcast, the Mohameds filed a $200 million lawsuit against Bascom.

In 2025, Mohamed dropped the $200 million lawsuit against Bascom after he apologized for the live broadcast implicating the businessman.

Ricardo “Paper Shorts” Fagundes was killed execution-style in March 2021 outside a popular Main Street, Georgetown, nightspot.

Reports indicate that the man was partying with a group of friends at the bar when his phone rang and he exited the club to take the call; shortly thereafter, several gunshots were heard. Reports suggest that the now-deceased man’s friends rushed out to enquire but found Fagundes lying motionlessly in a pool of blood near his motor car.

Following the allegations made by Bascom, the Guyanese Government engaged the Regional Security System to assist in solving the murder of Fagundes.

The RSS, during its investigation, did not find any evidence of corrupt practices or an attempt to cover up the probe into the 2021 murder of Fagundes.

It stated that the bribery allegations made by Sergeant Bascom against the Guyana Police Force, namely that Detective Supt Caesar and Inspector Stephens attempted to cover up the unlawful killing/homicide of Fagundes “were hearsay having no provenance”.