ADGM Court finds Dr Shetty and Prasanth Manghat liable on all counts, with sums in excess of USD 5bn indicated
Following the recent USD 600m settlement of related ADGM and London proceedings with Bank of Baroda, Quinn Emanuel, acting for the Joint Administrators of NMC Health, Richard Fleming and Benjamin Cairns of Alvarez & Marsal, has won a fraud judgment in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Courts against Dr Shetty, the company’s founder, and Prasanth Manghat, its former CEO. The Court found both defendants liable on all counts.
The Court has held – following a four-month trial in which Dr Shetty and Prasanth Manghat testified – that the starting point for assessing the contributions that Dr Shetty and Mr Manghat will be ordered to pay is over $5 billion, excluding interest and costs. The final amounts to be ordered against Dr Shetty and Mr Manghat will be finally determined after hearing any further submissions that the Court might permit.
The claims arise from the collapse of NMC Health, formerly a FTSE 100 listed company and the UAE’s largest private healthcare provider, which failed to disclose billions of dollars of hidden debt to the market. NMC Health entered administration in 2020 and was rescued by Alvarez & Marsal in a USD 2.25bn restructuring, on which Quinn Emanuel advised.
Richard Fleming, Joint Administrator of NMC Health Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal, said:
“The court has found that Dr Shetty and Mr Manghat knowingly participated in fraudulent trading over a prolonged period, contributing to the collapse of what was once one of the largest healthcare businesses in the Middle East and a FTSE 100 company.
“Since our appointment, we have investigated the circumstances surrounding NMC’s collapse and pursued those responsible. Today’s judgment is a vindication of those efforts, and we remain committed to pursuing every available avenue in recovering funds for those who suffered losses.”
The Quinn Emanuel trial team was led by Nick Marsh, Partner and Chair of the Civil Fraud Practice, and Khaled Khatoun, Partner and Co-Chair of the Middle East and North Africa Practice, with Rebecca Coyle, Matthew Tse and Alex Bromwich.
The judgment is available here.
