Head of the Special Branch, Senior Superintendent Prem Narine, said he was not aware that Sandy Rao, a senior inspector with the US Department of Justice’s United States Marshals Service, had worked with government officials to facilitate extradition of the Mohammeds.
Narine made the statement during continued cross-examination by defence attorney Siand Dhurjon.
The United States Department of Justice is seeking the extradition of Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed to face an 11-count criminal indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The charges include conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and money laundering linked to gold exports and tax evasion.
Dhurjon put to Narine that Rao had met with the Attorney General, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Home Affairs to assist in facilitating the extradition. Narine said he was not aware of those meetings.
Under further questioning, however, Narine described his own interaction with Rao on the day Mohammed was arrested.
Narine said he could not recall exactly when Rao called him that morning but remembered that Rao told him he was in Guyana dealing with Mohammed’s extradition.
Rao then asked Narine whether he wanted to accompany him through the process, Narine said. He agreed and went to pick him up.
Dhurjon then asked: “So in other words, you invited him to go on your operation?”
Narine said Rao had invited him to accompany them through the process.
The defence also suggested that Narine, Rao and United States law-enforcement personnel had coordinated with the United States Government to facilitate Mohammed’s extradition.
Narine denied the suggestion.
Cross-examination continues.