In a significant development within the Mohamed extradition proceedings, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sharon Roopchand-Edwards testified Friday that she could not locate a notebook containing critical notes related to statements prepared for U.S. prosecutors. The revelation emerged during cross-examination at the committal hearing for Azruddin and Nazar Mohamed, who face extradition to the United States on charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering connected to their gold trading operations.
Under rigorous questioning from Defense Attorney Roysdale Forde, who represents Nazar “Shell” Mohamed, Roopchand-Edwards acknowledged that she had searched extensively during the lunch recess but failed to find the notebook containing her handwritten annotations. She characterized the missing document as containing “my scribbles” rather than substantively relevant material, asserting it was “not an important document.”
The notebook reportedly contained notes based on a template received via WhatsApp that was used to draft an initial statement. This draft underwent subsequent modifications following consultations with Ministry of Foreign Affairs legal advisors before final submission to U.S. Prosecutor Herbert McKenzie. Roopchand-Edwards testified that the template had been “updated, noted on and discarded,” suggesting the notebook might be “somewhere in the office amongst many notebooks.”
Earlier testimony revealed that the Permanent Secretary had utilized the template to prepare the statement that was ultimately refined by ministry lawyers. The proceedings took another notable turn when the Principal Magistrate declined to permit inquiries regarding the identification of documents received from the U.S. Embassy, stating her role was limited to synchronizing documents with their corresponding lists.
Defense counsel Forde further highlighted that the Permanent Secretary had not retained copies of the documents nor initialed or marked any of them, potentially raising questions about document handling procedures within the ministry. Prosecutor McKenzie registered no objections throughout these exchanges.
The case continues to unfold as the United States seeks to try the Mohamed brothers in a Federal court in Florida for alleged financial crimes spanning international borders.