Azruddin Mohamed’s election comes six months after he formed political party that became country’s second largest
A Guyanese businessman facing extradition to the US on gold-smuggling and money-laundering charges has been elected as the country’s opposition leader, six months after he formed a political party that quickly became the second largest in the South American country.
Azruddin Mohamed, 38, was confirmed as Guyana’s opposition leader after 16 lawmakers from the We Invest in Nationhood party (Win) and another from a single-seat outfit voted in his favor. The tally made Win the second-largest party in parliament, securing Mohamed’s election even as a magistrate’s court hears state arguments for his extradition to the US.
Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed, were indicted last year in Florida on federal charges of gold smuggling and money laundering.
The indictments came just over a year after the US treasury department also sanctioned the duo for allegedly smuggling more than 10,000 kilograms (22,000 pounds) of gold to the US from Guyana, and evading more than $50m in taxes.
