Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, the Indian entrepreneur and founder of the UAE’s largest private healthcare chain, has vowed to challenge a Dubai court ruling that ordered him to pay nearly ₹1,000 crore to ICICI Bank. BR Shetty expressed shock at the verdict and remains confident that the appeal court will overturn the decision.
Dubai Court Orders Shetty to Pay ICICI Bank
The Dubai International Financial Centre Court ruled last week that BR Shetty must pay ICICI Bank $106 million (about ₹920 crore) due to personal guarantees linked to loans taken by his now-insolvent company. ICICI Bank had sought more than $125 million from BR Shetty after two companies associated with him—NMC Healthcare and Modular Concepts—defaulted on their loan repayments.
NMC Healthcare had secured three loan agreements totaling $105 million between 2012 and 2019, while Modular Concepts took a $30 million loan in June 2019. Both companies have since gone bankrupt. While the court upheld ICICI Bank’s claims regarding the NMC Healthcare loans, it dismissed the claims related to Modular Concepts.
Shetty Denies Personal Guarantee, Claims Signature Was Forged
BR Shetty has denied ever providing a personal guarantee for the loans, claiming that his signature on the loan documents was forged. Although he acknowledged that ICICI Bank had indeed given loans to NMC Healthcare, he insisted he had no connection to Modular Concepts. He stated that the signatures on the documents resembled his but maintained that they were not his own. He suggested the possibility of fraud and stated that someone else—possibly his own associates or others—might have signed the documents in his name.
Despite these claims, handwriting experts, including one appointed by BR Shetty’s legal team, testified in court that the signatures on the documents matched his own. The court ultimately accepted their findings, leading to the ruling against him.
The Rise and Fall of a Billionaire
Shetty’s journey from humble beginnings to business success and eventual downfall has been dramatic. Born in Udupi, India, he migrated to the UAE in the 1970s with little to his name. Over the years, he built a vast business empire in the Middle East, becoming a billionaire and gaining widespread recognition in India and the UAE. In 2005, he was honored with the Abu Dhabi Award, the UAE’s highest civilian accolade. His company, NMC Healthcare, went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2012, raising £117 million. In 2018, he joined The Giving Pledge, a philanthropic initiative led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, committing to donate most of his wealth to charitable causes.
However, BR Shetty’s success began to unravel in 2019 when American short-seller Muddy Waters published a report questioning NMC Healthcare’s financial statements. The report claimed that the company’s profitability appeared “too good to be true.” Muddy Waters had initially suspected financial irregularities at a different London-listed company, but after its cryptic tweet about accounting fraud in August 2019, NMC Healthcare’s shares plummeted, prompting further scrutiny.
Regulators and investors soon uncovered significant discrepancies in the company’s financials. As scrutiny intensified, NMC Healthcare was declared insolvent in 2020 in the UK, leading to the collapse of Shetty’s business empire. Following the downfall, BR Shetty left the UAE and returned to India.
Legal Battle Continues
With the Dubai court ruling against him, BR Shetty is preparing to file an appeal, hoping to reverse the decision. He remains steadfast in his belief that the truth will prevail and that justice will ultimately be served. Meanwhile, ICICI Bank has yet to comment on the case.
As the legal battle unfolds, Shetty’s dramatic rise and fall continue to capture attention, marking one of the most significant corporate controversies involving an Indian entrepreneur in recent years.
