UAE orders seizure of Shetty's assets; FTSE ousts NMC

As the debt-ridden NMC Health gets booted out of the blue-chip FTSE-100 index effective today, its founder BR Shetty faced a freeze of his bank accounts here as per the directive of the Central Bank of the UAE.
In an advisory, the CBUAE has instructed financial institutions in the UAE to freeze all bank accounts of Shetty and his family members along with accounts of those of companies where he has a stake. The UAE regulator is also seeking information regarding credit facilities extended to Shetty and his family members along with details of their safe deposit boxes and financial transfers they have made. It is also learnt that several companies associated with Shetty have been blacklisted.
The CBUAE move is subsequent to a criminal complaint filed by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, which has the largest exposure of Dh3 billion to NMC Healthcare, alleging "fraud and forgery" against six people, including founder Shetty and former CEO Prasnath Manghat, linked to the embattled group with debts totalling $6.6 billion.
In the complaint filed, ADCB had requested the federal public prosecution for the opening of a criminal case against the six accused and to direct "the Central Bank to freeze all accounts belonging to the accused and all their family members, up to three degrees removed, as well as private company accounts belonging to them, to prevent disposal of assets".
ADCB also has requested the prosecution to direct "all economic departments and free zone authorities in the UAE to identify and freeze all companies or economic entities belonging to the accused, or members of their families to prevent the disposal of assets, including any movable and/or immovable property and real estate inside and outside the state; and authorise a raid and search of the residence of all the accused, including the confiscation of all papers and financial documents, computers and any other relevant evidence."
NMC Health, which was recently placed into administration by a UK court, has debts of around Dh8 billion to UAE banks alone. FTSE Russell has said it is removing the troubled healthcare provider from the prestigious index at the expiration of 40 days of suspension.
issac@khaleejtimes.com