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.
The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The five pillars of Islam
RESULTS
2pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 40,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner: AF Senad, Nathan Crosse (jockey), Kareem Ramadan (trainer)
2.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: Ashjaan, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel.
3pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: Amirah, Conner Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
3.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: Jap Al Yaasoob, Szczepan Mazur, Irfan Ellahi.
4pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Cup Prestige Handicap (PA) Dh 100,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Jawaal, Fernando Jara, Majed Al Jahouri.
4.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Manhunter, Ryan Curatolo, Mujeeb Rahman.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Read more about the coronavirus
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The five pillars of Islam
Korean Film Festival 2019 line-up
Innocent Witness, June 26 at 7pm
On Your Wedding Day, June 27 at 7pm
The Great Battle, June 27 at 9pm
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion, June 28 at 4pm
Romang, June 28 at 6pm
Mal Mo E: The Secret Mission, June 28 at 8pm
Underdog, June 29 at 2pm
Nearby Sky, June 29 at 4pm
A Resistance, June 29 at 6pm
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
match info
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Muniain 37')
Atletico Madrid 1 (Costa 39')
Man of the match Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao)
US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
