Abu Dhabi Court Finds NMC Leaders Liable for Fraud

The Abu Dhabi Global Market Court of First Instance found NMC Healthcare founder BR Shetty and former chief executive Prasanth Manghat liable for fraudulent trading, setting $5.397 billion as the starting point for assessing contributions to the company’s assets. The amount each man may have to contribute remains undecided and is not a final award or the court’s stated total for fraud losses.

In a judgment dated November 5, Justice Sir Andrew Smith found that the men knowingly participated in fraudulent trading from April 30, 2012. The court said it would determine individual contributions after further submissions. A further hearing is also expected to address the final orders, interest and costs; no date was stated.

The judgment accepted unchallenged accounting evidence that transfers into Shetty’s personal accounts totalled AED4.183 billion. After accounting for money returned to NMC Group, the net value of those transfers was about AED2.6 billion. The court found that Shetty knowingly acquired personal assets and investments using funds transferred from the group.

The court also found that Manghat knowingly participated in the fraud and rejected his argument that he lacked...