Jagdeo tells Azruddin to ‘release the evidence’

Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo rejected assertions made by Azruddin Mohamed, challenging the businessman to release whatever evidence he has implicating President Dr. Irfaan Ali in a tax waiver for an undervalued Lamborghini.

“Let him release the evidence that President Ali told him to submit a false invoice to the GRA… (It is) a fake invoice, because no such thing happened,” Jagdeo said at a party press conference on Thursday.

President to Azruddin: Show proof you gave me the real invoice of Lamborghini

Just before, President Dr. Irfaan Ali challenged the businessman to provide proof that he ever presented the true invoice of a Lamborghini Aventador to the Office of the President, dismissing claims that he authorised any tax waiver related to the luxury vehicle as “ridiculous.”

In a comment to the News Room, Dr. Ali further clarified that while tax matters are frequently brought to the attention of the presidency, they are appropriately referred to the GRA, which operates independently in such matters.

Mohamed made the claim outside the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, shortly after he was granted $500,000 bail. He had just pleaded not guilty to two criminal charges related to fraudulent declarations made to the GRA concerning the vehicle’s importation.

The charges stem from an investigation that revealed major discrepancies in the declared value of the Lamborghini Aventador. Mohamed is accused of declaring the vehicle at just US$76,000 — a figure vastly lower than the US$695,000 indicated in original purchase documents now in the hands of authorities.