Head of the Guyana Police Force’s Special Branch, Senior Superintendent Prem Narine, told the court that he considers Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed a “threat to society,” citing police information which links the politician to murders, torture, execution-style killings, assaults on employees and bribery.
Narine made the statements while being cross-examined by defence attorney Siand Dhurjon during extradition proceedings involving Mohamed and his father, businessman Nazar Mohamed.
Dhurjon questioned Narine about earlier testimony in which the senior police officer described Azruddin Mohamed as a threat to society and the nation and as “very harmful.”
Narine maintained his position, telling the court that he and the Special Branch possessed information concerning the matters on which his assessment was based.
He testified that the information included allegations involving more than one murder and said he had personally investigated some of the matters.
Narine also referred to information concerning alleged torture and violence against employees, including an allegation that Mohamed cut off an employee’s ear.
The senior superintendent said the information available to law enforcement formed the basis of his assessment of Mohamed.
The testimony comes against the backdrop of renewed scrutiny surrounding the March 21, 2021, execution-style killing of gold dealer Ricardo “Paper Shorts” Fagundes outside Palm Court on Main Street, Georgetown.
Fagundes was shot multiple times after leaving the establishment. Police later recovered a burnt-out vehicle believed to have been used by the gunmen.
In 2022, police detective Dion Bascom publicly alleged that an employee associated with Mohamed’s Enterprise was linked to the killing and claimed there had been interference in the investigation. Mohamed and others named in Bascom’s allegations denied wrongdoing, and Mohamed subsequently filed a $200 million defamation lawsuit against Bascom.
The Fagundes investigation gained renewed momentum in 2026. Police detained several people for questioning, including individuals reported to have worked for or been associated with Mohamed and his businesses. Police also obtained a warrant and searched a property at Friendship, East Bank Demerara, reportedly belonging to Mohamed, as part of the continuing murder investigation.
Separate from the murder allegations raised during Narine’s testimony, the Mohameds have faced extensive allegations of corruption and bribery from U.S. authorities.
In June 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed, Mohamed’s Enterprise and associated entities under Executive Order 13818. Treasury alleged that Mohamed’s Enterprise underdeclared more than 10,000 kilograms of gold between 2019 and 2023, avoiding more than US$50 million in duty taxes owed to Guyana.
The Treasury Department further alleged that Mohamed’s Enterprise bribed customs officials to falsify import and export documents and facilitate illicit gold shipments. U.S. authorities also alleged that Azruddin Mohamed and Mohamed’s Enterprise engaged in broader bribery schemes involving Guyanese government officials to obtain favourable treatment in criminal or civil matters and facilitate business activities and government contracts.
The allegations later developed into a U.S. criminal case. A federal grand jury in Miami indicted Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed in October 2025 over an alleged multimillion-dollar gold export, tax evasion and money laundering scheme.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, the men allegedly concealed the true quantity and value of gold exported by Mohamed’s Enterprise between about 2017 and 2024. Prosecutors allege that official seals obtained for legitimate gold shipments were reused on subsequent shipments to evade taxes and royalties and that bribes were paid to customs and other government officials.
U.S. prosecutors estimate that at least 10,000 kilograms of gold were exported through Miami as part of the alleged scheme, causing approximately US$50 million in losses to the Guyana government. The indictment also accuses Azruddin Mohamed of participating in a separate scheme to evade more than US$1 million in Guyanese taxes connected to the shipment of a Lamborghini from Miami to Guyana.
Nazar Mohamed faces charges including conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and mail fraud, while Azruddin Mohamed is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud. Both men are presumed innocent of the U.S. criminal charges unless proven guilty.
The United States subsequently requested their extradition, leading to the proceedings now before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court. Guyanese authorities said the extradition request was formally received on Oct. 30, 2025.
It is during those proceedings that Narine, under questioning from Mohamed’s own defence attorney, detailed the information he said led him to characterise Azruddin Mohamed as a threat to society.