Barclays can enforce a $131 million judgment to recover unpaid bills from embattled NMC Health founder Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty following the failure of a foreign exchange venture, a British judge has ruled.
The UK-based international bank had sought to claw back its losses after the businessman’s Abu Dhabi-based UAE Exchange Centre reneged on a currency-swap agreement in March 2020 with his empire on the brink of collapse.
Barclays gave UAEEC more than $129 million in less than a week but never received expected currencies in exchange as share trading in the parent company Finablr was suspended on the London Stock Exchange amid a massive accounting scandal.
A court in Dubai ruled in favour of the bank in April last year, prompting Barclays to go to the High Court in London to enforce the ruling and tap the cricket lover’s frozen assets around the world.
They include his only known English asset, a £4 million ($5.4m) penthouse flat close to the famous Lord’s Cricket Ground in north-west London. The flat is owned by Mr Shetty through a British Virgin Islands company, Multi Skies Ltd, according to land registry documents.
The Indian-born businessman, who signed a guarantee in 2015 to pay off any debts to Barclays incurred by the UAE Exchange Centre, had tried to delay the ruling, claiming that the bank was responsible for misconduct and had connived with fraudsters to rip off his company.
But judges in Dubai and London have rejected his claims and his request for further hearings into the debt. Mr Justice Henshaw on Monday said his attempt to put off his judgment was a “delaying tactic”.
Dr Shetty, who claims to be “financially paralysed” because of a series of freezing orders imposed by courts in the UK and India, said he would continue his legal battle.
The 79-year-old further claimed that he was “stranded in Mangalore” after being turned back by Indian border officials when he tried to return to the UAE in November 2020, according to the judgment.
A spokeswoman for his legal team said: “Dr Shetty shall be appealing this judgment”.
Finablr, a payments and foreign exchange group, lists UAE Exchange, Xpress Money, Unimoni, Remit2India and the Bayan Pay among its subsidiaries.
It also previously owned the Travelex foreign exchange business, bought by Mr Shetty for £1 billion in 2014, but it was taken over by its lenders in a restructuring deal agreed in July 2020.
Mr Shetty has accepted that “serious fraud and wrongdoing” had taken place at Finablr and NMC Health.
Mr Shetty has brought legal action in the US alleging that former executives siphoned off more than $5 billion over a period of years. He has further claimed that the former managers forged and signed off transactions without his knowledge, including the 2012 Barclays agreement.
But a judge in Dubai last year found that his claims about the forged document were “entirely without substance” and that there was “no evidence whatsoever” to suggest that Barclays had been involved in dishonesty or fraud.
The National has further revealed that NMC Health had signed off on payments to struggling businesses run by members of Mr Shetty’s family before the healthcare brand collapsed.
NMC Health, one of the biggest privately-owned healthcare groups in the UAE, had 200 healthcare units in 17 countries before being placed into administration in April last year.
It followed the discovery of more than $6.6 billion of debt, more than three times higher than the level in its last failed accounts.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
