Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and President Irfaan Ali have strongly denied allegations made by businessman Azruddin Mohamed, who claims senior government officials facilitated a fraudulent tax waiver for his luxury Lamborghini Aventador.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Jagdeo challenged Mohamed to publicly release any evidence he has implicating President Ali in the alleged tax evasion scheme. โLet him release the evidence that President Ali told him to submit a false invoice to the GRAโฆ (It is) a fake invoice, because no such thing happened,โ Jagdeo said.
His statement follows a similar challenge by President Ali, who described Mohamedโs claim as โridiculous.โ The President reiterated that the authority to waive taxes lies solely with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), which functions independently. โAt no time have I instructed the GRA on any tax matter regarding Mr Mohamed,โ Ali told the News Room. He added that while tax-related issues are sometimes brought to the presidency, they are always referred to the appropriate authorities for investigation.
The controversy erupted after Mohamed, emerging from the Georgetown Magistratesโ Court on Thursday, accused both Ali and Jagdeo of orchestrating the clearance of the Lamborghini at an undervalued price. The businessman had just pleaded not guilty to two charges of making false declarations to the GRA and was released on $500,000 bail.
According to court documents, Mohamed is accused of declaring the value of a 2020 Lamborghini SVJ Roadster at just US$75,300.ย This is allegedly, far below the actual price of US$695,000. This discrepancy allegedly allowed him to evade over GY$383 million in taxes. The charges relate to documents submitted to the GRA in December 2020.
Outside the court, Mohamed lashed out at President Ali, calling him โdishonest and dishonourable,โ and invoked religious sentiment, accusing the President of betraying a fellow Muslim. He claimed to have discussed the matter with both Ali and Jagdeo between August and September 2020 and alleged that Jagdeo advised him to take the issue to the President.
โI am waiting for him to say it is a lie,โ Mohamed told reporters. โAnd trust me, anytime he comes out and says it is a lie, Iโll show the whole country how dishonourable he is.โ
In response, President Ali emphasised that GRA had independently investigated the Lamborghiniโs value and had already established the true cost of the vehicle, now central to the charges against Mohamed.
Now that the challenge has been issued to Mohamed, it remains to be seen whether he will release the evidence.
Mohamed is being represented by attorneys Darren Wade and Damian DaSilva.
