The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Court has ordered Indian businessman B.R. Shetty, founder of the collapsed NMC Healthcare empire, to pay $46 million (Dh168.8 million) to State Bank of India (SBI) after ruling he lied under oath about signing a personal guarantee for a $50 million loan in 2018. Justice Andrew Moran, in a 70-paragraph judgment delivered on October 8, described Shetty’s testimony as “an incredible parade of lies” and “incoherent and nonsensical,” rejecting his claims that signatures were forged via employee competitions or that he never met bank officials.
Handwriting experts confirmed the signatures, backed by photos and emails contradicting Shetty’s denials. The award includes interest to the judgment date, plus 9% annual interest—about $11,341 daily—until full repayment. Shetty, 83, who built UAE’s largest private healthcare firm from scratch in 1975, fled to India in 2019 amid a $4.4 billion debt scandal that bankrupted NMC. This marks another blow for the once-billionaire, following a February $106 million ICICI Bank ruling he plans to appeal. Social media reactions mix shock at the fraud allegations with sympathy for Shetty’s fall from grace, highlighting risks in Gulf business empires.
