Latest update March 13th, 2026 12:35 AM
Nazar Mohamed fires back at Nadir
…calls statement reckless, defamatory, demands apology
(Kaieteur News) – Guyanese businessman Nazar “Shell” Mohamed has condemned statements made by Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir about his son, Azruddin Mohamed, leader of the political party We Invest in Nationhood (WIN).
In a letter to the editor, Mohamed said he was disappointed and outraged by the Speaker’s remarks describing them as reckless, abusive, and defamatory and called on Nadir to issue an apology.
Guyanese businessman, Nazar Mohamed
On Tuesday evening, Nadir broke his silence on the issue of convening a meeting to facilitate the election of a Leader of the Opposition. During the live broadcast, the Speaker took aim at Azruddin Mohamed, suggesting that his possible election as opposition leader would tarnish Guyana’s Parliament and labelled him an “international fugitive.”
“As you know very well, I have consistently refrained from engaging in political commentary and stick to the issues at hand all politics removed. However, what you uttered went far beyond politics. Your dangerous and destructive references to Pablo Escobar, to drugs, and to criminality were not only disgraceful, they were deliberate lies, calculated to mislead the public and poison the national discourse,” Mohamed said in his letter.
He grouped Nadir’s remarks with statements previously made by President Irfaan Ali, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, and Attorney General Anil Nandlall, which he described as allegations that are “total fabrications.”
“Allegations about drugs, Colombian connections, Russian connections and all these strange allegations. The U.S. authorities have never confirmed these allegations ever existed,” Mohamed stressed.
He further questioned why, if the Government of Guyana possesses any credible evidence to support the “slander” repeated by Nadir, no action has been taken and no charges or prosecutions initiated. “The answer is because no such evidence exists,” he added.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir
Mohamed outlined those sanctions imposed by the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on himself, his son, and their businesses as well as the related indictment refer solely to an alleged tax matter.
“They do not allege drug trafficking. They do not allege narcotics proceeds. They do not allege cartel activity. They do not allege trafficking of any nature. Furthermore, Azruddin Mohamed is alleged to own 10% of the shares of the company, but the actual fact is that he has nothing to do with the referenced company. He has never received a salary from the company for any services. He has his own separate business. These facts are not in dispute,” Mohamed said.
In his letter, Mohamed also referenced an article published by an international media group that focused extensively on Azruddin Mohamed, noting that nearly all of the sensational claims were ultimately excluded from the final allegations. “What began as a sprawling narrative was ultimately reduced to minimal, unproven allegations, with 99% of the insinuations never forming part of any charge,” he added.
Nazar and Azruddin are currently challenging an extradition request by the United States Government in the local courts. The businessmen have been indicted in the U.S. on multiple charges, including allegations of orchestrating a fraud and money-laundering scheme involving gold exports, customs fraud, bribery, and the evasion of millions of dollars in taxes and royalties allegedly owed to Guyana.
Mohamed said Nadir chose to repeat what he described as the vilest insinuations from his chair as Speaker, an office he noted demands neutrality, restraint, and respect for truth. He also said that he found the statements highly offensive and described them as a personal betrayal. “As Speaker, you have a constitutional duty to uphold fairness, dignity, and integrity. Instead, you weaponised your office to spread blatant lies and character assassination. That conduct is unbecoming of your role and corrosive to public trust,” Mohamed stated.
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I guess Shell has some serious gonads. As I have said earlier, the Guyana government failed to proactively audit “businessmen” like Shell and Azruddin.
From the time the government sees these people spending the kind of money that they are spending, I wonder about that. Yes it will be expensive but the revenue of which they are robbing the government will more than cover that expense.