Indian Entrepreneur BR Shetty Fingers Former CEOs Amid Scandal

BR Shetty, the embattled Indian FinTech and healthcare entrepreneur, is calling for an investigation of two of his former CEOs amid a financial scandal that has consumed his once-mighty multibillion-dollar business empire.

Shetty is calling upon federal investigators in India to examine the role of the former CEOs of his two key companies NMC Health PLC and payments firm Finablr PLC, as well as executives at two Indian banks, for their role in an alleged asset inflation scandal, Reuters reports.

Shetty has filed a 55-page complaint to back up his allegations, according to the news agency. The tome details efforts to inflate the balance sheets of the two companies, as well as allegations involving the misappropriation of funds and the setup of “illegal” credit facilities over a period of several years starting in 2012.

Shetty’s decision to finger two of his top executives comes as he finds himself in mounting financial and legal jeopardy, including efforts by banks in India and Dubai to claw bank loans and a criminal complaint Abu Dhabi.

Finablr has warned it could be facing insolvency, with debt of more than $1 beyond what the FinTech had officially reported, while hospital company NMC has placed under the supervision of London’s high court after debt of more than $6.6 billion was revealed.

The two former CEOs — brothers Prasanth and Promoth Manghat — have called the allegations “unfounded,” saying Shetty retained significant control over NMC even after he stopped running the day-to-day affairs of the company in 2017.

Shetty and his attorneys have also submitted 100 pages of backup material, with the package delivered to the prime minister’s office in India, the central bank, as well as to Indian investigative agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

“We have submitted every shred of evidence into that complaint, which, if anybody examines, will clearly conclude that Dr Shetty is innocent and that all of that has happened under his nose — unfortunately, behind his back,” Shetty’s lawyer, Zulfiquar Memon of MZM Legal, told Reuters.