Pres Ali exposes US sanctioned Azruddin Mohamed’s lies on Lamborghini’s value

…says video reinforces his “duplicity and dishonesty”

President Dr Irfaan Ali has rejected attempts by United States (US)-sanctioned Azruddin Mohamed to link him to an alleged tax evasion scheme currently under judicial scrutiny. Mohamed, who is before the courts for allegedly undervaluing a Lamborghini and submitting falsified documentation to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), has sought to implicate the President in the matter. However, President Ali on Monday categorically denied any involvement and condemned the businessman’s claims as deceitful.

“My number is no secret. It is the same number I have had in and out of Government, so having my number is nothing special. Thousands of Guyanese continue to contact me on various matters,” the Head of State stated in a public response. Refuting Mohamed’s narrative, President Ali clarified that at no point did the businessman present to him nor the GRA with the actual invoice reflecting the vehicle’s true value, which is now confirmed to be US$695,000.
“As I stated before, at no time did Azruddin Mohamed present any invoice for US$695,000, which we now know is the true and correct value of the car,” the President said. “Instead, he reaffirmed and confirmed his lies that the invoice he shared and presented to GRA was US$75,000.”
Ali further noted that official findings have revealed a pattern of financial transactions that support the US$695,000 valuation, directly contradicting Mohamed’s continued insistence that the vehicle was acquired for US$75,000.
“This is the matter before us. Did he lie about the value he presented as the purchased price of the vehicle? The answer is yes,” President Ali asserted. “Based on the facts now presented by the US authorities, he did lie and presented a falsified invoice to the GRA.”
The President said Mohamed never disclosed the vehicle’s actual cost to him nor to the relevant tax authorities and continues to maintain the inaccurate figure, despite mounting evidence. Ali declined to engage with personal attacks leveled against him by Mohamed, describing them as reflective of the businessman’s character.
Mohamed was sanctioned by the US in 2024 under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
Charged
Mohamed, was placed on $500,000 bail for tax evasion and fraudulent declaration charges in relation to the purchase of the Lamborghini Roadster SVJ.
Mohamed appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty on May 29 at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, where he answered to the two charges brought by GRA, false declaration to the GRA and fraudulent tax evasion.
The first charge alleged that the 39-year-old on or about December 7, 2020, caused to be made and subscribed, a false declaration to the GRA when he stated on the GRA’s custom declaration form that the purchased amount for the Lamborghini was US$75,300, instead of the true purchase price of US$695,000.
The second charge accuses Mohamed of, on the same date, fraudulently declaring to the Revenue Authority US$75,300 as the purchase price for the luxury vehicle thus resulting in the sum of $383,383,345 in taxes being evaded. Mohamed, who is also currently facing sanctions by the US Government over gold smuggling and tax evasion allegations, pleaded not guilty to both charges. It was previously reported that these charges were filed by the GRA after it obtained evidence from the US Department of Justice (DoJ). GRA Commissioner, Godfrey Statia, had written the US authorities for information on the purchase of the luxury vehicle.
Earlier this month, the DoJ, under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), provided the Guyanese Tax collection body with an original invoice for the Lamborghini, which was billed to Azruddin Mohamed himself, to the tune of US$695,000. This was also corroborated by documents obtained by GRA from a local bank that showed wire transfers from Mohamed’s account to the US seller.
The Revenue Authority and Mohamed are currently embroiled in legal proceedings in the High Court. The GRA filed the matter to recover the outstanding taxes owned by the businessman. In April, GRA officials, backed by police attempted to seize several luxury vehicles — including a Lamborghini Roadster, Ferrari, Rolls Royce, and Land Cruisers — from the Mohamed’s residence in Houston, Greater Georgetown. The operation was aborted after a hostile crowd, reportedly paid by Mohamed, blocked access to the premises.
GRA has said that the vehicles were imported under the re-migrant scheme, but failed to meet key requirements, including residency status and proper declaration of value. The total tax liability in the matter is estimated at nearly $900 million.
Mohamed subsequently obtained a High Court order to block the seizure of the luxury vehicles. Only earlier this month, the Court of Appeal had refused GRA’s application to overturn the High Court ruling that had placed an injunction on the tax agency from seizing the luxury vehicles owned by the Mohamed family.
US sanction
Meanwhile, the Mohamed family is currently under sanction by the US Government. Back 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.