President Ali, Azruddin Mohamed tangle over chats about taxes for luxury car

Last Updated on Monday, 2 June 2025, 17:30 by Writer

A bitter dispute has erupted over President Ali’s alleged role in facilitating Azruddin Mohamed’s importation of a Lamborghini luxury car so that GY$50 million in taxes and duties could have been paid to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) almost five years ago.

The President is adamant that the Guyana government now has evidence from the United States, proving that Mr Mohamed lied and “presented a false invoice to the GRA” that the value of the car was US$75,000 instead of US$695,000.

Dr Ali said the true and correct value of the vehicle was never presented to him or the GRA, “as he maintains in his recent video.” “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. Instead, he reaffirmed and confirmed his lies that the invoice he shared and presented to GRA was US$75,000,” Dr Ali said. The President is also relying on a series of financial transfers that were made to the same company, verifying what was actually paid for the car. “This is the matter before us,” the President added.

The city businessman, once a close friend of Dr. Ali, related that on September 30, 2020, he had allegedly asked the Guyanese leader whether GRA Commissioner-General Godfrey Statia would “fight me down” because he had wanted to pay GY$50 million in duty.

Mr Mohamed said that on October 6, 2020, “I told him that I want to pay $50 million duty, if that would be a problem, because I saw the Lamborghini was selling for around $75,000 because it had some electrical issues and it was COVID time so I got a good deal on the car,” he said.

He alleged that the President asked him why he did not want to GY$25 million instead to which he explained that the duty was much higher on a luxury vehicle.

Mr Azruddin sought to implicate President Ali in the car purchase. He said the car was purchased on October 7, 2020 for US$75,400 with his “approval”. He said Dr Ali “is in receipt of that invoice”.

Displaying on his phone what he said was a copy of a Republic Bank transfer of US$75,300 on October 7, 2020 for the identical vehicle, he said he forwarded the invoice on December 8, 2020 to Dr Ali when the car arrived.

Mr Mohamed was charged by GRA last week for making a false declaration and tax evasion, based on evidence that the GRA said it has obtained from the United States. “This is the trump card”, he said in referring to the SWIFT money transfer document, as he sought to debunk claims by Dr Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo that they had no knowledge about the Lamborghini.

Mr Mohamed, who the United States government sanctioned in June 2024 for allegedly evading US$50 million in taxes from the GRA on the export of more than 10,000 kilogrammes of gold, vowed to “continue to challenge this corrupt machinery.”

He said after the car arrived on December 7, he cleared the car, paid the GY$50 million in duty and thanked the President. “Chief, all good with the car, thanks”.

Mr Mohamed also displayed a purported WhatsApp conversation in which he had apparently asked the President to intervene in the registration of the car because the Commissioner-General had allegedly blocked its licence registration until he green-lighted it.

If the messages are anything to go by, the President allegedly promised that “will be dealt with”. Mr Mohamed, according to the WhatsApp conversation, thanked the President. “Yes Chief. License call me to register .. chief all sorted. Registration in hand. Thanks”.

Against that background, Mr Mohamed said he was being targeted because of his entry into political arena. He suggested that Dr Ali should be charged as an accomplice, but instead he allegedly instructed the GRA to seize the car and charge him.