BR Shetty, the founder of NMC Health, which was placed into administration by a UK court last week and faces criminal charges, said he flew to India in early February for personal reasons.
Mr Shetty told The National when reached by phone on Friday that he left the UAE to Mangalore on February 7 to be with his brother, who had cancer and died earlier this month aged 82.
“He was sick. That’s why I came in February and he was sick for two months and he died maybe a fortnight back,” Mr Shetty said.
“Once the coronavirus restrictions are over and flights are open, I’ll come” back to the UAE, he said. He is with his wife, while the rest of his family remains in Abu Dhabi, he added.
Reports had suggested Mr Shetty fled to India as legal and operational challenges mounted in relation to his companies NMC Health and Finablr, both listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Mr Shetty said he has “kept quiet” about the allegations he and his companies are facing, and “didn’t want to react, because I don’t know the facts, I don’t know what happened”.
In a statement to The National, Mr Shetty said: "Given my own legal and forensic investigations are now starting to produce some initial findings, and in consideration of some of the misleading and false allegations that have made against me, I will be looking to respond in the appropriate manner and with the appropriate authorities both in the UAE and elsewhere … I am absolutely determined to bring to light the full facts, and the whole truth, around what has transpired as soon as possible."
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank has initiated criminal legal proceedings with the attorney general in Abu Dhabi against a number of individuals linked to NMC Health.
"This action is consistent with the bank's objective to protect its interests," the lender said in a statement on Wednesday.
The bank, which is the embattled hospital operator's biggest sole creditor with an exposure of $981 million, did not specify who it had initiated criminal proceedings against.
A UK court placed NMC Health into administration on the application of ADCB last week.
Overall, UAE banks have a combined exposure of at least Dh8bn to the healthcare firm. Other significant creditors include Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Barclays and Standard Chartered. NMC also owes money to Oman-based banks and financial institutions.
The latest development comes as joint administrators Alvarez & Marsal appointed four new non-executive directors "to ensure more robust standards of governance" at the firm.
More than 80 major local, regional and international financial institutions extended credit to NMC, which was founded by Mr Shetty in Abu Dhabi in 1975, and now employs more than 2,000 doctors and about 20,000 other staff in 19 countries.
The company has made a series of damaging disclosures in the past few months after a report by activist investor Muddy Waters in December alleged it inflated cash balances, overpaid for assets and understated its debt.
Last month, NMC revealed its debt stood at $6.6bn, substantially higher than the $2.1bn declared in its last filed accounts. A review committee also discovered evidence of "suspected fraudulent behaviour".
In February, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority launched an investigation into NMC's activities after the company's shares were suspended from trading on the London Stock Exchange.
NMC Health appointed Ithmar Capital’s managing partner, Faisal Belhoul, as executive chairman on March 26 after the Dubai private equity firm took a 9 per cent stake in the healthcare company.
Mr Shetty's financial services holding company Finablr is also facing challenges. Last month, the company cited a number of issues affecting its business, including travel restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus, the recent credit downgrade of Travelex’s bonds and a liquidity squeeze. It announced a potential insolvency appointment and the UAE Central Bank subsequently intervened to oversee Finablr’s UAE Exchange business.
Mr Shetty resigned as NMC chairman in February and from Finablr unit Travelex's board in March. The 77-year-old has a net worth of $3.15bn, according to Forbes.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
RESULTS
Bantamweight:
Zia Mashwani (PAK) bt Chris Corton (PHI)
Super lightweight:
Flavio Serafin (BRA) bt Mohammad Al Khatib (JOR)
Super lightweight:
Dwight Brooks (USA) bt Alex Nacfur (BRA)
Bantamweight:
Tariq Ismail (CAN) bt Jalal Al Daaja (JOR)
Featherweight:
Abdullatip Magomedov (RUS) bt Sulaiman Al Modhyan (KUW)
Middleweight:
Mohammad Fakhreddine (LEB) bt Christofer Silva (BRA)
Middleweight:
Rustam Chsiev (RUS) bt Tarek Suleiman (SYR)
Welterweight:
Khamzat Chimaev (SWE) bt Mzwandile Hlongwa (RSA)
Lightweight:
Alex Martinez (CAN) bt Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR)
Welterweight:
Jarrah Al Selawi (JOR) bt Abdoul Abdouraguimov (FRA)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Factfile on Garbine Muguruza:
Name: Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
World ranking: 15 (will rise to 5 on Monday)
Date of birth: October 8, 1993
Place of birth: Caracas, Venezuela
Place of residence: Geneva, Switzerland
Height: 6ft (1.82m)
Career singles titles: 4
Grand Slam titles: 2 (French Open 2016, Wimbledon 2017)
Career prize money: $13,928,719
