-tax authority disputes US-sanctioned businessman’s claim that he bought the luxury sports vehicle for a mere US$76,000

There are no results for THE Guyana Revenue Au thority (GRA) has present ed compelling new infor mation to the High Court, revealing what appears to be a severe understatement of the cost of a luxury vehi cle previously purchased by US-sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed. Documents from the US Department of Justice show that a Lamborghini Aventador declared at US$76,000 was purchased for US$695,000, a staggering difference of over US$600,000 that GRA officials claim constitutes criminal tax evasion and po tentially perjury. GRA disclosed the docu ments were received from the US through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. A supplemental affida vit filed by the GRA con sists of 78 pages of corre spondence between Guy anese and US officials, with the supposed orig inal invoice of the Lam borghini Aventador at the center of the issue. Presented to the High Court on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, the affidavit unequivocal ly disputes Mohamed’s ear lier sworn affidavit claim ing he bought the lux ury sports vehicle for a mere US$76,000. The GRA’s Deputy Com missioner of Law Enforce ment and Investigation, Ra Consulting Inc., issued an invoice on October 7, 2020, for the Lamborghini Aven tador SVJ Roadster 2020 (with Vehicle Identification Number ZHWUN6ZD1L LAO9394) for US$695,000. jandra Singh, emphasised in his affidavit that this was not a clerical oversight but a deliberate effort to de fraud the tax department. Adding to the accusa tions of the GRA, docu ments it had acquired from the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) show that Mohamed had sent a total of US$622,000 to Interna tional Speed Consulting Inc. in Texas within a mere three days in October 2020. The payments were made in three tranches: US$350,000 on October 5, US$250,000 on October 6, and US$22,000 on October 7, 2020. The Texas-based com pany, International Speed A December 7, 2020, Guyana customs form for the same vehicle with the same VIN lists only a value of US$75,300. Singh, in his affida vit, claimed that the discrep ancy is a deliberate act of misrepresentation with the intention to evade heavy im port duties associated with such a high-value vehicle. The affidavit establish es the factual basis of a po tential claim of perjury due to the apparent false oath state ment. According to the GRA, the case is part of a larger attempt to clamp down on the evasion of taxes on luxury vehicles in Guyana. In December 2024, the GRA released a broad cam paign to impound luxu ry cars for which false dec larations were made lead ing to tremendous tax eva sion. The authority estimat ed loss of hundreds of mil lions in outstanding tax es, which involved a number of unscrupulous importers who made false declarations of the motor vehicle’s engine capacity and other specifi cations. Mohamed recent ly won a favourable judg ment in the Appeal Court, which supported a High Court ruling stopping the GRA from seizing several luxury vehi cles pending the judgment of the case The case is scheduled for another hearing in court in the coming weeks. Home Affairs Minis ter Robeson Benn, who for warded the US Depart ment of Justice records to the Commissioner-Gen eral of the GRA, stat ed that more data from the US authorities are expected, including “business records certification.