NMC founder B.R. Shetty to make 'imminent' return to UAE, clear name in $4b plus corporate scandal
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Dubai: Dr. B.R. Shetty, founder of NMC Healthcare and UAE Exchange Centre, has again confirmed an “imminent” return to the UAE. if this is the case, this will be a significant breakthrough in the NMC Healthcare corporate scandal that broke late last year and which later showed more than $4 billion in bank loans going missing.
Shetty, who founded NMC in 1975, had been outside of the UAE since February, and in the subsequent months was subject to multiple legal actions initiated by creditor banks. Court orders issued in Dubai and in India have placed strictures on the sale of his assets.
“I had travelled to India in February to be with my ailing brother who passed away at the end of March,” said Shetty in a statement issued to the media. This was “just as the pandemic spread [and] 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.
"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. I intend 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."
Blames senior executives
All through these months, Shetty had professed no knowledge of how the billions of dollars went missing. He initiated a personal investigation into the company’s affairs and, based on the findings, pointed the finger of accusation against senior officials of the previous management, including the then CEO Prasanth Manghat and his brother Promoth Manghat (who was the CEO of Finablr, the parent company of UAE Exchange Centre).
Both NMC and UAE Exchange were listed on London Stock Exchange, in 2012 and 2019, respectively.
In a recent update they gave to bankers and other creditors, the administrators – from the specialist consultancy Alvarez & Marsal – said: “We have set target dates for all the relevant steps to complete the formulation of strategy and preparation of claims arising from the investigation in order to seek redress from those parties connected to the fraud.”
It is now believed that some in the previous management is "helping" with the investigation, according to bankers. However this has not been officially confirmed.
No question of fleeing
In the statement, Shetty made the point that his intent was always to return to the UAE and clear up the mess he finds himself in.
“Reports that I had fled the country couldn’t be further from the truth,” Shetty added. “The fraud has regrettably caused huge challenges for the companies, great hardship for employees, disruption to supplies and losses to shareholders and creditors.
“I would like to thank the UAE Government, creditors, administrators and employees for keeping the operations of the company alive during the pandemic.
“I have complete faith in the justice system of the UAE and look forward to the perpetrators of the fraud facing justice.”
Shetty is yet to give a clear date on when the “imminent” arrival might be. Informed sources thought it could be as early as this week itself. That, however, remains to be seen.
The other company he founded, Finablr/UAE Exchange Centre, is now looking at a possible sale, with Israel’s Prism Advance Solutions as the suitor.
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Delhi court sentences Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia, associate to life imprisonment
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has sentenced Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia and his associate to life imprisonment under MCOCA provisions, but refused the death penalty saying the offences did not fall under the category of 'rarest of the rare cases'.
Additional Sessions Judge Vandana Jain sentenced Gulia and Dhirpal alias Kana to rigorous imprisonment for life under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
In an order dated December 13, the judge said, "Death sentence can only be awarded in 'rarest of the rare cases' wherein the murder is committed in an extremely inhumane, barbarous, grotesque or dastardly manner as to arouse umbrage of the community at large."
The judge said that on weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, it could be concluded that the present case did not fall under the category, and so, the death penalty could not be imposed upon the convicts.
"Thus, both the convicts are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs 3 lakh each, for committing the offence under Section 3 of MCOCA," she said.
The public prosecutor, seeking the death penalty for both the accused, submitted that they were involved in several unlawful activities while they were on bail in other cases.
He argued that the accused had shown no respect for the law and acted without any fear of legal consequences, and therefore did not deserve any leniency from the court.
The court noted that both convicts were involved in offences of murder, attempt to murder, extortion, robbery, house trespass, and criminal intimidation. Besides, they had misused the liberty of interim bail granted to them by absconding.
It said, "The terror of the convicts was such that it created fear psychosis in the mind of the general public, and they lost complete faith in the law enforcement agencies and chose to accede to the illegal demands of convicts. Despite suffering losses, they could not gather the courage to depose against them."
The court noted that Gulia was involved in at least 18 criminal cases, while Dhirpal had links to 10 serious offences.
It underlined that MCOCA had been enacted "keeping in view the fact that organised crime had come up as a serious threat to society, as it knew no territorial boundaries and is fuelled by illegal wealth generated by committing the offence of extortion, contract killings, kidnapping for ransom, collection of protection money, murder, etc."
Both accused persons had been convicted on December 10 in a case registered at Najafgarh police station. The police filed a chargesheet under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) and 4 (punishment for possessing unaccountable wealth on behalf of member of organised crime syndicate) of MCOCA.
