‘Release the evidence…because no such thing happened’- Jagdeo to Azruddin on claims Pres. Ali assisted in tax evasion

Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has challenged US-sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed to release evidence to support his claim that President Dr. Irfaan Ali assisted him in evading taxes associated with the importation of his Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster.

“Let him release the evidence that President Ali told him to submit a false invoice to the GRA, a fake invoice. Let him release it because no such thing happened. I spoke with President Ali, he said ‘not at all’,” Jagdeo said hours after Mohamed made the accusation.

After appearing at the Magistrates’ Court on Thursday to answer charges related to tax evasion and fraudulent declarations made to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) concerning the vehicle’s importation, Mohamed claimed that the President assisted him in the crime.

“I have proof where Irfaan Ali facilitated and assisted with the clearance of the Lamborghini. I am waiting for him to say that is a lie…” the US-sanctioned businessman told reporters.

Mohamed pleaded not guilty and was placed on $500,000 bail.

“Now, I would have hoped that he would have produced this evidence and say to the Magistrate or in the High Court ‘here is the evidence’, not the fake invoice that he submitted, so let him show any evidence,” Jagdeo reiterated.

The businessman recently announced his intention to contest the 2025 General and Regional Elections.

The Vice President debunked claims that Mohamed is being attacked because he is running for political office. In fact, he recalled that the entire issue escalated after the businessman posted invoices to Facebook showing that he paid $93 million in taxes to import three luxury vehicles including the Lamborghini.

This led to the GRA contacting the banks which showed that the cost of the Lamborghini was undervalued at US$75,300.

“[He]  dishonestly puts that in an affidavit before the courts and then GRA went to the bank and saw he transferred US$695,000 to the company, they then asked the US Justice Department to get how much he paid abroad… This is a criminal act, a fake invoice in a criminal act unless we change the law to suit the Mohamed’s,” the Vice President explained.

It is alleged that the Lamborghini was purchased for US$695,000 but Mohamed declared the price as US$75,000 thus resulting in an estimated tax evasion of over $383 million.

Meanwhile, in 2024, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had announced that it sanctioned Nazar Mohamed and his son, Azruddin Mohamed, several of their companies, and a Guyanese Government official, Mae Thomas, for their roles in alleged public corruption in Guyana.

According to a statement from OFAC, this is related to the evasion of taxes on gold exports, noting that between 2019 and 2023, Mohamed’s Enterprise omitted more than 10 thousand kilograms (kg) of gold from import and export declarations and avoided paying more than US$50 million in duty taxes to the Government of Guyana.