–welcomes ‘well-grounded’ ruling by Justice George in similar matter

PRESIDENT Dr. Irfaan Ali on Wednesday criticised Justice Gino Persaud’s recent ruling that barred the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) from imposing post-clearance taxes in the luxury-vehicle case involving United States (U.S) indicted businessman Azruddin Mohamed, arguing that such audits are lawful, essential and long-established within the customs system.

 

Weighing in on the recent ruling by Justice Persaud in the luxury vehicle tax case involving the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), President Ali during a live broadcast said post-clearance audits and assessments are not novel processes but are crucial to the country’s customs architecture.

 

In this context, GRA’s active step to enhance its capacity to verify the accuracy of declaration after good surpass the port of entry, is an approach endorsed by the World Customs Organisation.

 

“Post clearance, audits and assessments are by no means novel. For decades, these mechanisms have been integral to the customs architecture. Historically, such functions were executed through the inspections department of the former Customs and Excise department, now subsumed within the GRA,” President Ali said.

 

Justice Persaud last Friday ruled that the GRA could not impose post-clearance taxes to the tune of $421 million on a Lamborghini and two other vehicles.

 

GRA has signaled its intention to appeal the ruling, a move which the President has welcomed. The state’s power to recover outstanding taxes is vested in various pieces of legislation, including the Income Tax Act, Customs Act, Property Tax Act and Companies Act.

 

He stressed that Justice Persaud’s ruling impedes GRA taxes rightfully owed to the state.

 

“That ruling now slated for appeal by the GRA has been widely criticised as perverse, internally inconsistent and disconnected from both established custom practice and the evident intention of the custom Act 82:01,” the President said.

 

While Justice Persaud ruled that the GRA had no legal basis to impose taxes after imports were cleared and paid for, even in the face of fraudulent paperwork, Chancellor (ag) Roxane George on Monday, in the case of Zhangzhen Yu, ruled that the agency may lawfully issue post-clearance tax assessments.

 

This was a ruling which President Ali welcomed.

 

“Her ruling brings coherence to the law and protects the revenue of our country. This welcome clarity stands in stark contrast to the earlier ruling by Justice Gino Persaud, a that has confounded many observers, and which the Guyana Revenue Authority regards as fundamentally flawed in law,” Dr. Ali said.

 

He reiterated that the ruling in the case of Zhangzhen Yu, the Chancellor reaffirms that post clearances are not only lawful but essential to protect the public purse.

 

“The government welcomes her clear, authoritative and well-grounded judgment, which re-establishes coherence in customs and ensures that the GRA can continue fulfilling its mandate without artificial or ill-conceived constraints,” the President said.

 

Meanwhile, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall S.C. had said the judgment “nullified” GRA’s power.

 

The Attorney General emphasised that every tax return or customs declaration includes mandatory legal forms, of which each taxpayer agrees to any potential reassessment.

 

Noting that GRA’s power is undeniable, Nandlall stated that post-clearance audits are an internationally-recognised mechanism and form part of the Kyoto Convention, which Guyana follows. He further noted that in 2017, the GRA established a special unit solely for post-clearance audits.

 

EVIDENCE OF FRAUD

Nandlall then pointed to the alleged evidence of fraud in the case involving the embattled businessman’s 2020 Lamborghini Roadster SVJ.

 

He said: “You had fraud being established, and fraud in law unravels everything. Once a taxing authority has evidence of fraud, there is no discretion anymore, but a duty crystallises on that taxing authority to go forward to get the right amount of taxes that should be paid. Recall that customs duties, for example, are ad valorem, meaning they are based upon value. The higher the value, the higher the taxes.”

 

In its statement, the GRA noted that Justice Persaud delivered his ruling at a time when the related criminal charges had already been withdrawn. As a result, the tax authority said the judgement is now “moot and now of academic importance only,” except for one critical issue that the court did not address.

 

According to the release, “the Honourable Court did not address itself to the issue of fraud regarding submissions supported with evidence made by the Revenue Authority.”

 

The GRA maintained that this omission leaves a substantive question unresolved, even though the broader matter may be considered academic following the withdrawal of criminal charges.

More significantly, GRA took issue with what it described as an “extraordinary pronouncement” by the court regarding the limits of the GRA’s statutory powers. According to GRA, the court “proceeded to make an extraordinary pronouncement to the effect that the Revenue Authority has no power to reassess taxes in the circumstances.”

 

The GRA firmly rejected that conclusion, stating that it is “of the respectful view that this latter pronouncement is wholly erroneous in law and not in line with the relevant provisions of the tax laws of Guyana.”

 

Nandlall is hopeful that the appeal by GRA will be filed quickly and that every effort will be made for a speedy determination.

 

EXTRADITION PROCEEDINGS

In light of the extradition request from the United States (U.S.) for Azruddin and his father, Nazar ‘Shell’ Mohamed, the Attorney General clarified that the recent High Court ruling does not affect those proceedings.

 

He said: “It has no impact whatsoever on the extradition proceedings. What would have had an impact on the extradition proceedings would have been the criminal proceedings in the magistrates’ court, which were duly withdrawn after careful consideration of the legal implications by the lawyers involved. So, there’s absolutely no connection.”

 

The U.S. government, on October 30, 2025, requested the extradition of the father and son under the extradition treaty between Guyana and the United Kingdom, which remains in force in Guyana under Section 4(1)(a) of the Fugitives Offender Act, Cap. 10:04, as amended by Act No. 10 of 2024.

 

The Mohameds are the subject of an unsealed indictment on October 6, 2025, by a U.S. Grand Jury in the Southern District of Florida, charging them with multiple offences, including wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, aiding and abetting, and customs-related violations linked to an alleged US$50 million gold export and tax evasion scheme.

 

The indictment alleges that between 2017 and June 2024, the accused conspired to defraud the Government of Guyana by evading export taxes and royalties on over 10,000 kilograms of gold, using falsified customs declarations and re-used export seals to disguise unpaid duties.

 

The indictment also references “the attempted shipment of US$5.3 million in undeclared gold seized at Miami International Airport, and the alleged under-invoicing of a luxury vehicle valued at over US$680,000.”

 

In June 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Mohameds and Mohamed’s Enterprise for alleged tax evasion, trade-based money-laundering, and gold smuggling.

In March 2025, the Guyanese Government received a comprehensive dossier of evidence from U.S. authorities under mutual legal assistance arrangements. The documents reportedly contained evidence of falsified customs declarations, gold export irregularities and undeclared shipments seized in Miami.