US ‘100% committed’ to Mohameds’ extradition – Ambassador

United States Ambassador to Guyana Nicole Theriot says the United States is “100% committed” to securing the extradition of Azruddin Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed, despite months of adjournments and delays in the ongoing court proceedings in Guyana.

Extradition proceedings against the two men have been adjourned on several occasions in the Magistrates’ Court, with delays stemming from defence-filed constitutional challenges, applications for stays, appeals to the High Court, issues surrounding prosecutorial disclosures and at least one illness-related postponement; although attempts were made to halt the process, the High Court has rejected bids to stop the hearings, allowing the extradition matter to continue before the magistrate.

Against that backdrop, Ambassador Theriot told local media entity News Room that “the US is 100% committed to seeing this through,” emphasising that it is “incredibly important to us that these proceedings continue and that a decision is ultimately made.”

Acknowledging the drawn-out nature of the case, she noted that “there have been a lot of delays, including today,” but added that the United States remains hopeful that the matter will advance and that a decision will be reached.

The extradition request stems from an October 2025 indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which charged the father and son with conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and customs-related offences linked to an alleged large-scale gold export and tax evasion scheme. U.S. prosecutors have alleged that more than 10,000 kilograms of gold were unlawfully exported, resulting in an estimated US$50 million in lost tax and duty revenues to the Government of Guyana. Prior to the indictment, the two were sanctioned in June 2024 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over allegations of trade-based money laundering and related financial offences.

Underscoring Washington’s seriousness, the Ambassador said, “The US government does not spend tens of thousands of US taxpayer dollars to request extradition if we’re not serious. We want to see justice served, both for the Guyanese and the US people,” the Ambassador said.

At the same time, Theriot stressed that the United States respects Guyana’s legal process.

“We have to be respectful of the Guyanese judicial system, the ball is in your court, as they say…We are watching from afar. We are not interfering, but we are very, very interested in the outcome and we are fully committed to seeing this through,” she stated.