BR Shetty plans return to the UAE, hopes to clear his name

KT | Dubai

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

BR Shetty, founder and former chairman of NMC Health and Finablr, which have been at the epicentre of a series of financial scandals and fraud involving billions of dollars, said on Saturday he is planning to “return to the UAE as promised”.

Talking to Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview from Bengaluru, Shetty said he has “complete faith in the justice system" of the UAE and looks forward to bringing the perpetrators of the fraud to justice.

The billionaire entrepreneur, who has been away from Abu Dhabi since February, said he intended “to support the UAE authorities and all relevant bodies to correct any injustice done to the companies, their employees, shareholders and other stakeholders and help find solutions to outstanding matters”.

A few weeks ago, Shetty sought an investigation by federal Indian agencies into a series of fraud allegedly committed by former top executives of his companies.

“I travelled to India in February to be with my ailing brother who sadly passed away at the end of March, just as the pandemic spread across the world disrupting international travel. While I was in India, our investigations started to unravel details of the fraud in NMC Health, Finablr and some private companies owned by my family,” he said.

“I said at the time that I intended to return to the UAE and, having filed a criminal complaint against the suspected perpetrators of the fraud in India, I am planning my imminent return to the UAE as promised,” said the tycoon, who has been the architect of two home-grown global brands — NMC and Finablr.

He said reports that he had “fled the country” could not be farther from truth.

Confessing that the “fraud has regrettably created huge challenges” for the companies, he said such shocking developments caused great hardships for his employees, “disruptions to suppliers, and losses to shareholders including myself and creditors”.

“I would like to thank the UAE government, creditors, administrators and employees for keeping the operations of the companies alive during this pandemic,” Shetty averred.

“I have complete faith in the justice system of the UAE and look forward to the perpetrators of the fraud being brought to justice,” he added.

In October, in a 55-page detailed complaint filed with the Indian government departments, Shetty had accused 10 of his former executives, including Prasanth and Promoth Manghat — brothers who were the former CEOs of NMC and Finablr — of perpetrating “a large, complex and sophisticated corporate and financial fraud”.

In the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by Khaleej Times, he stated that he was “the victim of a complex fraud” amounting to $6.6 billion involving his former senior executives and some bank officials.

Shetty stated in the complaint that he was calling for a probe into “the embezzlement, corruption, and laundering of money of his companies on the basis of my personal knowledge and the basis of my examination of documents and records obtained by me”.

He also noted that he had filed a complaint dated April 27, 2020, with the Federal Attorney-General of the UAE, seeking a detailed investigation into the affairs of the group companies “in view of the forgery, fraud, and embezzlement” described in his petition.