GRA will appeal injunction in Azruddin Mohamed’s vehicle case

Last Updated on Saturday, 12 April 2025, 10:39 by Writer

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Friday said it would appeal a High Court injunction blocking the seizure of several vehicles from businessman Azruddin Mohamed’s residence for alleged evasion and failure to pay more import duties and taxes.

“The GRA will lodge an Appeal against the ruling, since the preservation of assets is not assured, and no bond has been lodged as is usual in these circumstances,” the tax agency said in a statement after Justice Gino Persaud’s decision.

Justice Persaud made the injunction interlocutory. He set May 15, 2025 for the hearing of Mr Mohamed’s substantive case.

The GRA said that his concrete proof is to back its case. “The Authority reiterates that it has in its possession irrefutable evidence of the said breaches, and the understatement of values of the other vehicles, and will vigorously defend the said matters presently before the Court.”

Justice Persaud said, after an examination of the grounds by the parties, that “under such circumstances, I find that the evidence shows that there are serious issues to be tried by the Court.”

The High Court Judge said he did not accept the argument by the GRA lawyers that the GRA would not be allowed to carry out their lawful authority since to discharge the interim injunction would prejudice the Applicants’ case of challenging the Respondents’ assessment of taxes owed on the motor vehicles.”

“Having considered all the Affidavits filed by the parties and considering the public interest I am of the considered view that the balance of justice lies with the Applicants,” Justice Persaud added.

Justice Persaud says the balance of convenience will also preserve the status quo since the Applicants have contended that they both were not given an opportunity to be heard on the Commissioner-General’s assessment of taxes which raises the issue of natural justice. In Ms. Hanna Mohamed’s case, she would be deprived of justifying before the Court her reasons for purportedly breaching the re-migrant requirements for tax exemptions.

The GRA said its research shows that the “actual sale price” for Mr Mohamed’s 2020 Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster is US$709,000 and should have fetched an additional GY$371,775,168 in additional duties.

But he said he bought the Italian-made vehicle for US$75,000 from a vendor in Texas, United States on October 7, 2020 and paid import duties totalling GY$48,968,035.

He is also questioning the authenticity and legality of the evidence that GRA said it acquired from EPIC VIN. Mr Mohamed said the EPIC VIN report amounts to “documentary hearsay and ought not to be considered for it being inadmissible as evidence.” “This report is unsigned, unauthenticated, and hearsay in nature. The author is unknown, and there is no indication that the data therein is official, accurate, or admissible…It does not originate from any known statutory database, nor does it bear the imprimatur of any public authority,” he said.

In another affidavit, GRA said it conducted comprehensive searches, including online market comparisons, for vehicles of identical or comparable make that point in the direction of alleged evasion of import charges. “These searches revealed multiple listings for such vehicles, each bearing values substantially higher than those declared by the applicant. The extent of the discrepancy observed clearly indicated that the values declared by the applicant did not reflect the fair market value of the vehicles and were, in fact, grossly understated,” states GRA Deputy Commissioner Rajandra Singh.