President Dr. Irfaan Ali has described a recent video released by Azzrudin Mohamed as “duplicity and dishonesty”.
Mohamed, in the video, described the President in unsavoury terms and showed WhatsApp chats and the number of the President regarding the importation and valuation of a luxury vehicle.
In a pointed statement, President Ali clarified that his phone number has never been a secret, noting that it has remained the same both during and outside of his tenure in government.
Reiterating his previous assertions, the President stated unequivocally that at no point did Mohamed present an invoice reflecting the accurate purchase price of the vehicle, which has since been established by US authorities as US$695,000.
Instead, Mohamed repeatedly claimed — and maintains in his recent video — that the vehicle was purchased for US$75,000, a figure President Ali says is both dishonest and factually incorrect.
Further compounding the issue, President Ali revealed that multiple financial transfers have now been uncovered, all directed to the same company, which corroborate the higher valuation of the vehicle.
“This is the matter before us,” the President said. “Did he lie about the value he presented as the purchase price of the vehicle? The answer is yes.”
President Ali emphasised that Mohamed not only presented a falsified invoice to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) but also failed to disclose the true value of the vehicle to him or the relevant authorities.
“The facts now presented by the US authorities show he lied and presented a falsified invoice,” he stated.
President Ali declined to address personal insults directed at him in Mohamed’s video, saying such remarks “reveal their true personality and nature.”
Mohamed, a presidential aspirant, appeared in court last Thursday to answer tax evasion and fraud charges related to the under-invoicing of a US$695,000 Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster, which he allegedly declared to the GRA at only US$75,300.
The GRA claimed the falsified invoice resulted in over $383 million in lost tax revenue.
Mohamed pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted bail in the sum of $500,000.
The case is adjourned until June 26, 2025.
