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Mohamed concerned against move to revive murder allegations against him
Presidential candidate of We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, Azruddin Mohamed
Kaieteur News – Presidential candidate for the fledgling We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, Azruddin Mohamed, has called on Guyanese to remain vigilant, as he said efforts are afoot to revive allegations that he killed Ricardo Fagundes, called Paper Shorts, back in 2021.
Fagundes was shot more than 20 times in March 2021 by two men moments after stepping out of Palm Court on Main Street, Georgetown. The men had emerged from the back seat of a waiting white Toyota Fielder car, which was heavily tinted. Police had later found a burnt-out car at a location along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.
In a statement on his Facebook page on Thursday evening, Mohamed said he was willing to cooperate with any fair and credible investigation into any allegations made against him. “It is unfortunate that I must divert my time and energy from addressing the needs of the people to addressing these baseless claims designed to damage my reputation as a candidate in the upcoming general and regional elections,” Mohamed said. He noted that over the past months, “I have seen continuous efforts to attack my character, tarnish my name, and discredit my family. I strongly reject these actions. Let me remind you: I have never been named a person of interest or a suspect in any murder investigation.”
Mohamed noted that in September 2022, the Regional Security System (RSS) report clearly stated there was no evidence of corruption or a cover-up in the investigation into the 2021 murder of Ricardo Fagundes. “The Guyana Police Force also publicly confirmed that I was never a suspect. This information is publicly known, and I remain committed to clearing my name. Unfortunately, a fair process is not always guaranteed. That’s why I ask you, my fellow citizens, to stay alert and take note of the ongoing political efforts to undermine my credibility and hinder my campaign. These attacks are politically motivated, planned by the threatened PPP, and carried out by their associates to push false narratives.”
Mohamed said that ever since his announcement to contest these elections, he has noticed the following tactics: “Defaming my family in the media; blocking my visits to indigenous communities; false accusations of tax evasion; false allegations of rape and now, reviving baseless murder allegations.”
Ricardo Fagundes, called ‘Paper Shorts’
“I call on all Guyanese to remain vigilant and support a fair election process, one that is void of political mischief and abuse of power,” the statement concluded.
Kaieteur News had reported on September 10, 2022, the Home Affairs Ministry stated that the Regional Security System (RSS) had found no evidence of a police cover-up in the murder of Fagundes. Instead, according to the Ministry, accusations made by police Sergeant Detective Dion Bascom that there was a cover-up were only “hearsay.”
President Mohamed Irfaan Ali had requested the services of the RSS after the detective, via his lawyer, Nigel Hughes, had asked him for protection. Bascom’s need for protection arose after he had made a Facebook live, accusing his superiors at the Police Force’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of accepting a $30M bribe to cover up Paper Shorts’ murder. The Guyana Police Force (GPF) had not only denied the claims but had called Bascom a liar and even investigated him for breaching its code of conduct.
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