A high-stakes extradition battle centered on two Guyanese billionaire businessmen has taken a new turn this week, as the pair accused of multiple financial crimes by U.S. prosecutors have retained a prominent Florida-based international lawyer to defend their interests.
Nazar “Shell” Mohamed and his son Azruddin Mohamed have been fighting U.S. extradition since an 11-count indictment charging them with wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering was unsealed in October 2025. This week marked the first confirmation that the pair has brought on a U.S.-based legal representative: Peter A. Quinter, an international law specialist and shareholder at the prominent Florida firm Gunster.
For months, the Mohameds have focused their efforts on opposing extradition in Guyanese courts, with Azruddin Mohamed confirming to Demerara Waves Online News back in March 2026 that the legal team would not address the U.S. indictment until domestic proceedings are resolved. “We want to get this case here sorted out first and then we’ll think about that one over there,” he told the outlet at the time, adding that negotiations over U.S. legal representation had been ongoing for weeks.
As of Wednesday, Quinter had not yet entered an official appearance in the U.S. court system for the case, but he has already moved to push back against recent public comments from U.S. Ambassador to Guyana Nicole Theriot. In a formal letter dated April 17, 2026, Quinter objected to remarks Theriot made during a recent interview on the SOURCES platform, arguing that a sitting U.S. ambassador should not comment on or attempt to influence active judicial proceedings in a host country.
Last month, Theriot publicly defended the U.S. government’s extradition request, saying the decision to pursue the Mohameds was rooted in solid, irrefutable evidence. “We do it because we have hard, unequivocal evidence against a person. Why would we take on a case we don’t think we’re going to win? That’s just a waste of the US taxpayers’ money. So we firmly believe that they’re guilty of the crimes that they’re being indicted for,” she stated.
Quinter countered that Theriot’s public declaration of the pair’s guilt violates both the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights. He reminded the ambassador that the Vienna Convention requires diplomatic mission heads to respect the domestic laws and judicial processes of their host country, noting that the extradition challenge is currently active before Guyana’s courts.
The attorney also emphasized that the Mohameds, along with their company Mohamed’s Enterprise and all linked personnel facing prosecution in Guyana, are guaranteed the right to a fair trial under international human rights law. He specifically cited Article 7 of the Universal Declaration, which enshrines equality before the law and equal protection for all, and Article 10, which guarantees every person the right to a full, fair public hearing before an independent, impartial tribunal when facing criminal charges.