Barclays can enforce a $131 million judgment to recover unpaid bills from embattled NMC Health founder Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty following the failure of a foreign exchange venture, a British judge has ruled.
The UK-based international bank had sought to claw back its losses after the businessman’s Abu Dhabi-based UAE Exchange Centre reneged on a currency-swap agreement in March 2020 with his empire on the brink of collapse.
Barclays gave UAEEC more than $129 million in less than a week but never received expected currencies in exchange as share trading in the parent company Finablr was suspended on the London Stock Exchange amid a massive accounting scandal.
A court in Dubai ruled in favour of the bank in April last year, prompting Barclays to go to the High Court in London to enforce the ruling and tap the cricket lover’s frozen assets around the world.
They include his only known English asset, a £4 million ($5.4m) penthouse flat close to the famous Lord’s Cricket Ground in north-west London. The flat is owned by Mr Shetty through a British Virgin Islands company, Multi Skies Ltd, according to land registry documents.
The Indian-born businessman, who signed a guarantee in 2015 to pay off any debts to Barclays incurred by the UAE Exchange Centre, had tried to delay the ruling, claiming that the bank was responsible for misconduct and had connived with fraudsters to rip off his company.
But judges in Dubai and London have rejected his claims and his request for further hearings into the debt. Mr Justice Henshaw on Monday said his attempt to put off his judgment was a “delaying tactic”.
Dr Shetty, who claims to be “financially paralysed” because of a series of freezing orders imposed by courts in the UK and India, said he would continue his legal battle.
The 79-year-old further claimed that he was “stranded in Mangalore” after being turned back by Indian border officials when he tried to return to the UAE in November 2020, according to the judgment.
A spokeswoman for his legal team said: “Dr Shetty shall be appealing this judgment”.
Finablr, a payments and foreign exchange group, lists UAE Exchange, Xpress Money, Unimoni, Remit2India and the Bayan Pay among its subsidiaries.
It also previously owned the Travelex foreign exchange business, bought by Mr Shetty for £1 billion in 2014, but it was taken over by its lenders in a restructuring deal agreed in July 2020.
Mr Shetty has accepted that “serious fraud and wrongdoing” had taken place at Finablr and NMC Health.
Mr Shetty has brought legal action in the US alleging that former executives siphoned off more than $5 billion over a period of years. He has further claimed that the former managers forged and signed off transactions without his knowledge, including the 2012 Barclays agreement.
But a judge in Dubai last year found that his claims about the forged document were “entirely without substance” and that there was “no evidence whatsoever” to suggest that Barclays had been involved in dishonesty or fraud.
The National has further revealed that NMC Health had signed off on payments to struggling businesses run by members of Mr Shetty’s family before the healthcare brand collapsed.
NMC Health, one of the biggest privately-owned healthcare groups in the UAE, had 200 healthcare units in 17 countries before being placed into administration in April last year.
It followed the discovery of more than $6.6 billion of debt, more than three times higher than the level in its last failed accounts.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.6-litre turbo
Transmission: six-speed automatic
Power: 165hp
Torque: 240Nm
Price: From Dh89,000 (Enjoy), Dh99,900 (Innovation)
On sale: Now
More on Quran memorisation:
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
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Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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THE%C2%A0SPECS
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Company%20Profile
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
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Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Honeymoonish
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
