Tax evasion, US sanctions: Police detain Azruddin Mohamed in drone threat probe

Businessman Azruddin Mohamed was briefly detained by police this week, following allegations that he threatened Nathan Prince, a drone operator, last weekend.

The alleged encounter reportedly occurred during a tense April 5 stand-off at the Mohamed family’s Houston, Greater Georgetown residence, when Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) officers accompanied by police ranks, attempted to seize vehicles, after months of failed negotiations and repeated notices regarding unpaid taxes.

Prince is reported to be Head of the Drone Unit at Sheriff Security.

On Tuesday last, Mohamed was reported to have been taken into custody at the Ruimveldt Police Station, where he was questioned over reports that he issued threats to the drone pilot, who had been detained for flying a drone over Mohamed’s residence.

Flying drones over private property is against Guyana’s aviation directives.

The drone operator reportedly made a counter-complaint about Mohamed while in custody, prompting the police to launch a formal probe on that matter.
Mohamed was later released.

The incident adds to the already intensifying scrutiny surrounding Mohamed, whose business operations and public behaviour have sparked ongoing legal and political controversy.

The businessman is no stranger to law enforcement: back in 2010, three security guards were reportedly tortured for several hours, after being accused of stealing a quantity of items from Mohamed Enterprises on Lombard Street where they worked.

According to a Stabroek News article dated November 24, 2010, security supervisor, 63-year-old Bansgopaul Sookhraj, Imtiaz Bacchus and Ousman Boodhoo Sahadeo alleged they were repeatedly “struck with a baseball bat, had soapy water poured into their mouths and were gagged and bound with scotch tape before being threatened not to report the matter”.

The men alleged that they were brutalised by four or five persons, one after the other.
Sookhraj reportedly bore the brunt of the assault. An X-ray revealed that both of his hands were broken. His head was visibly swollen, and he found it unbearable to stand or walk.

According to a medical report obtained from the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), Bacchus sustained five fractured ribs and a severely swollen right foot. Sahadeo, known as ‘Fat Boy,’ had black-and-blue bruises on both arms, difficulty hearing, and impaired vision in his swollen left eye.

A few weeks later, on 3 December 2010, Stabroek News published a follow-up report indicating that two employees of Mohamed’s Enterprise were either dismissed or suspended due to their involvement in the beating and torture of the three security guards—an action confirmed by the company’s owner, Nazar Mohamed, who publicly apologised for the incident.

The publication indicated that it was Nazar Mohamed who contacted Stabroek News and “repeatedly stressed that he was devastated when he read about the incident in the newspaper, emphasising that at the time, he was overseas”.

According to the newspaper, the businessman also apologised for the way his son and employees handled the matter when approached for a comment.

His son’s knowledge of the matter, as owner of the business alleging the theft, was never discussed.

No legal repercussions resulted from the complaint either, as the newspaper reported that the three men accepted hefty sums to drop the matter after they said, they were approached by a lawyer at the police station where the sums were agreed upon after a discussion.

Azruddin Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed, are also subject to sanctions imposed by the United States (US), stemming from what the US Department of the Treasury described as their “roles in public corruption in Guyana.”

According to the Department, the sanctions were enacted under Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which expands and enforces the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. This legislation targets individuals and entities involved in serious human rights abuses and corruption on a global scale.

PPP has never protected criminality

Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo has since strongly rebutted suggestions that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has shielded the Mohamed family from prosecution.

During his weekly press conference on Thursday last, Jagdeo declared that “the PPP has never condoned wrongdoing… Back in 2022, I publicly stated the party would not allow any businessman involved in illegal activities to tarnish our reputation. That included Azruddin Mohamed.”

Jagdeo further blasted the opposition, People’s National Congress (PNC) and their media allies for what he called “a 180-degree reversal” in narrative. He noted that the same opposition leaders who once labelled the Mohamed’s as a “criminal cabal protected by the PPP” are now rallying around the family, portraying them as victims.

“The tables have turned,” Jagdeo remarked. “They are now meeting with the Mohamed’s, defending them online, and flooding social media with troll accounts pretending to show public support.”

GRA seizure

As it relates to the seizure of Mohamed’s vehicles, the High Court has issued an interim interlocutory injunction barring the GRA from seizing several high-end luxury vehicles owned by prominent businessmen Azruddin Mohamed and his father Nazar “Shell” Mohamed, pending a full judicial review of the agency’s $1.2 billion tax evasion claim.

On Friday, Attorney-at-Law Siand Dhurjon, representing the Mohamed family, confirmed that Justice Gino Persaud extended an initial restraining order and granted further legal protection for the Mohamed’s vehicles—including a Ferrari 488, Lamborghini Roadster and two Toyota Land Cruisers, until a substantive hearing on May 15, 2025.

“The injunctions will last until the hearing and determination of the substantive matter. The substantive matter is what we have filed to quash the assessments and to prohibit any seizure or other enforcement action,” Dhurjon said.

The court’s ruling temporarily halts the GRA’s efforts to seize the vehicles, which the agency alleges were imported under false declarations and breaches of the re-migrant scheme—a programme designed to grant tax exemptions to eligible returning residents.

However, in a later press release regarding Friday’s ruling, the GRA stated that it will lodge an Appeal against the ruling, since the preservation of assets is not assured, and no bond has been lodged as is usual in these circumstances

The release also noted that the extension of the Restraining Order has been issued pending a full trial, intended to maintain the status quo, and should not be interpreted as a final court decision.

The Authority reiterated that it has in its possession irrefutable evidence of the said breaches, and the understatement of values of the other vehicles, and will vigorously defend the said matters presently before the Court.

According to GRA, efforts to resolve the matter amicably had included three letters and direct email outreach, all of which went unanswered. The agency maintains it has “irrefutable evidence” of tax breaches and is pursuing the matter “without fear or favour.”

The vehicles at the centre of the controversy carry staggering unpaid tax liabilities, including $479.7 million for a 2020 Ferrari; $371.7 million for a 2020 Lamborghini Roadster; $320 million for a 2023 Rolls-Royce; $61.4 million for a 2023 Range Rover, and $24.6 million each for two Toyota Land Cruisers, pushing the total close to $1.2 billion.