UAE court orders B.R. Shetty to pay $45.99 million to SBI after finding he lied under oath
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Dubai: The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts has ordered B.R. Shetty, founder of the now-collapsed NMC Healthcare Group, to pay $45.99 million (Dh168.7 million) to the State Bank of India (DIFC Branch) after finding that he lied under oath about signing a personal guarantee for a $50 million (Dh183.5 million) loan.
In a judgment issued on October 8, Justice Andrew Moran described Shetty’s testimony as “an incredible parade of lies” and called his evidence during the September 29 hearing “incoherent and nonsensical.” The court said there was “overwhelming witness and documentary evidence” proving that Shetty personally signed the guarantee in December 2018, making him liable for the debt.
Under the ruling, Shetty must pay $45,997,554.59 (Dh168.8 million), including interest up to the judgment date, with post-judgment interest set at 9 per cent per year, accruing at roughly $11,341 (Dh41,645) per day until full repayment.
The case centred on whether Shetty had personally guaranteed a $50 million loan extended by State Bank of India (SBI) to NMC Healthcare in December 2018. Shetty denied signing any documents or meeting the bank’s CEO, claiming his signature was forged.
However, the court was presented with photographs, meeting notes, and emails from Shetty’s own account contradicting his version.
The bank’s then-CEO, Anantha Shenoy, testified that he travelled to NMC’s Abu Dhabi office on December 25, 2018, where Shetty signed the guarantee in his presence. Shenoy also produced photographs taken weeks later showing Shetty with senior SBI officials, apparently thanking them for the facility. When shown the photos, Shetty claimed the officials must have “just come and stood there” while he posed for pictures with the chairman.
The court dismissed these claims as “false and discreditable manoeuvring designed to evade liability.”
Justice Moran also rejected Shetty’s claim that NMC employees once held a competition to see who could best forge his signature, calling the explanation “bizarre.”
Handwriting experts testified that the signatures on the guarantee, sanction letter, and related documents matched Shetty’s handwriting. The judge said the evidence against him was overwhelming.
The ruling marks another blow to the 83-year-old Indian billionaire, once hailed as one of the UAE’s most successful Indian entrepreneurs. Shetty founded NMC Healthcare in the mid-1970s, building it into the UAE’s largest private healthcare provider, alongside other ventures such as UAE Exchange and Finablr.
At its peak, NMC was listed on the London Stock Exchange and valued at more than $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion). But the company collapsed in 2020 after hidden debts of over $4 billion (Dh14.68 billion) were discovered, triggering international investigations.
Shetty resigned as joint non-executive chairman of NMC in February 2020. The company was later placed under administration in Abu Dhabi, while Shetty left the UAE and returned to India, citing health reasons.
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Apr 9 bypolls: Cong under illusion of winning with money, liquor, muscle power, says Yediyurappa
Bagalkot (Karnataka) (PTI): Veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa on Sunday alleged that Congress leaders came to campaign for bypolls two Karnataka constituencies with "suitcases full of money", under the illusion that they can win with cash, liquor and muscle power.
But people will "teach them a lesson," the former Chief Minister told reporters.
He also accused the Congress government in the state of indulging in corruption, "intoxicated by power".
"There is no need to have any doubt. They (ruling Congress leaders) have come with suitcases full of money under the illusion that they can win the election with money, liquor and muscle power," Yediyurappa said, taking a dig at CM Siddaramaiah and his cabinet for camping in poll bound constituencies for about a week now.
People have decided to ensure the victory of BJP candidates, and will reject the Congress' allurements, he added.
"By ensuring the victory of BJP's candidates in both Bagalkot and Davanagere South, people have decided to teach a lesson to the corrupt Congress government and CM Siddaramaiah, who have indulged in large scale corruption intoxicated with power," he said, and claimed that BJP is getting good response from the public during the campaign.
Bypolls for the Bagalkot and Davanagere South Assembly constituencies will be held on April 9. The polls were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti and Shamanur Shivashankarappa, respectively.
Yediyurappa alleged that the Congress was indulging in a "daylight robbery" by emptying the government's treasury.
Responding to a question, he said, the minority Muslim community is also aware of the Congress' "true colours", and will not fall for their allurements. "I think they too will stand by us," he added.
The BJP leader said that Siddaramaiah knows Congress is certain to lose in the bypolls and has therefore been campaigning in both constituencies for about a week now.
