Businessman Nazar Mohamed has said that they will not be complying with a demand of $900 million in unpaid taxes by the Guyana Revenue Authority.
The tax agency gave the Mohameds fourteen days to settle the outstanding amount, citing discrepancies in declared values and breaches of tax exemption conditions related to the importation of three luxury vehicles.
The vehicles in question are – a Toyota Land Cruiser, a 2020 Lamborghini Roadster, and a 2020 Ferrari 488 were cleared and registered four years ago.
The patriarch of the Mohamed family, Nazar Mohamed during an interview with Svetlana Marshall of Newsource said he believes the decision is a very vindictive move by the government given that the vehicles were processed by the tax agency.
“The Ferrari is my daughter’s vehicle. She’s living in Guyana. She came and she applied for the duty free. She got the duty free. She brought the vehicle. This was the same vehicle that had problems with the U.S. government. The matter went to court and the vehicle was released, shipped to Guyana”.
According to Mr. Mohamed, the heat his family is facing is an attempt to pressure his son, Azruddin to publicly state that he is not running for political office, as he declared that they will not be paying the taxes.
“Our legal team has told us that this is ridiculous. This is a clear case of victimization. This is a clear case of pressuring us so that he (Azruddin Mohamed) can say that. Well, listen, I’m not into politics. They want him to make a statement that, well, he’s not going to run for this election, that was the exact word that the emissary came with. So, Mr. Jagdeo decided to come and start throwing mud on people”, Mr. Mohamed said.
Residents in several communities visited by Azruddin Mohamed have called for him to throw his hat in the political race, but he has made no such announcement to date. However, many believe that he has political ambitions.
Nazar Mohamed, his son Azruddin along with Permanent Secretary Mae Thomas, were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department nine months ago for their alleged role in corruption. Thomas, who was transferred to the Ministry of Labour, is currently on paid administrative leave pending an investigation, as announced by Vice President Jagdeo some time ago.