Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, the founder of NMC Health and payments firm Finablr, said preliminary investigations carried out by his advisers "indicate that serious fraud and wrongdoing appears to have taken place" at both companies, as well as at other businesses he owns.
Mr Shetty, who returned to his native India in February, but who has vowed to return to the UAE to clear his name, blamed the fraud on "a small group of current and former executives at these companies".
Bank accounts were created in his name, and loans, cheques and bank transfers were all guaranteed without his knowledge and using his "forged signature", Mr Shetty said yesterday. He added that entire companies were set up "in my name that I neither authorised, consented to, or had any knowledge of".
"To see everything that my family and I have strived to build over the past 45 years eroded over the course of a few short months, and mainly due to the misconduct and wrongdoing of people I put so much trust in, saddens me beyond words," Mr Shetty said.
Mr Shetty started NMC from a single clinic in 1975, building it into the UAE's biggest private healthcare operator, with 2,000 doctors and almost 20,000 other staff. It was placed into administration earlier this month.
Problems at the company first emerged in December, when short seller Muddy Waters released a report saying NMC Health had inflated its cash balances, overpaid for its assets and understated its debt.
This sparked an independent investigation which found that debts at NMC Health were much higher, at $6.6bn, than the $2.1bn previously stated in its accounts. That led its biggest lender, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, to petition for the appointment of administrators, although its hospitals, clinics and pharmacies continue to operate. Banks in the UAE have declared exposure of at least Dh8bn to NMC Health, and more than Dh10bn to Mr Shetty's broader empire, including payments and currency exchange group Finablr, which owns the UAE Exchange and Travelex brands.
A spokesman for the joint administrators of NMC Health said they will review Mr Shetty's statement as part of their investigations into NMC Health. They also said they "look forward to Dr Shetty sharing the findings of his investigation with us". ADCB declined to comment.
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
Kandahar%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ric%20Roman%20Waugh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EGerard%20Butler%2C%20Navid%20Negahban%2C%20Ali%20Fazal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')
Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')
Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
HAJJAN
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Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
Easter%20Sunday
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Fourth Arab Economic and Social Development Summit
As he spoke, Mr Aboul Gheit repeatedly referred to the need to tackle issues affecting the welfare of people across the region both in terms of preventing conflict and in pushing development.
Lebanon is scheduled to host the fourth Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in January that will see regional leaders gather to tackle the challenges facing the Middle East. The last such summit was held in 2013. Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki told The National that the Beirut Summit “will be an opportunity for Arab leaders to discuss solely economic and social issues, the conference will not focus on political concerns such as Palestine, Syria or Libya". He added that its slogan will be “the individual is at the heart of development”, adding that it will focus on all elements of human capital.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
PSL FINAL
Multan Sultans v Peshawar Zalmi
8pm, Thursday
Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
