The chief financial officer (CFO) of troubled NMC Health, which is at the centre of a multi-billion dollar fraud investigation, has left the UAE and returned to India, according to reports.
It is understood that Suresh Krishnamoorthy and his family – his wife and three children – and his housemaid, were part of the emergency evacuation flights which left the UAE last Thursday.
The two repatriation Air India Express flights – carrying 360 people in total – were launched by the government of India on May 7 as part of a the ‘Vande Baharath Mission’ to bring back stranded nationals. Over 200,000 people from the UAE have registered with the Indian embassy and consulate requesting repatriation on urgent grounds.
Terminally ill, jobless, pregnant and those grieving the death of own family members are among the expats desperately waiting for their chance to fly home.
A report in Khaleej Times quoted an NMC company source as saying: “He sent me a message on Friday morning (the day after the first flight) from Kerala saying he left due to some urgent matters. He said will be back in the UAE in June. He has definitely left the UAE with his whole family.”
Krishnamoorthy stepped down as CFO in 2017 when Prasanth Manghat took over as the NMC CEO, but was reinstated in February this year when the company’s financial troubles came to light.
Trading in the shares of NMC Health was suspended at the end of February as the company moved to provide clarity regarding its financial position, which was later revealed to be substantially above the previously reported $5 billion debt and estimated to be around $6.6bn.
In April, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), which has $981 million worth of exposure in the healthcare provider, successfully applied to UK courts to have the company placed into administration and NMC has subsequently been removed from the London Stock Exchange where it once held the prestigious status of being included in the FTSE 100.
Administrators Alvarez & Marsal Europe LLP have since moved quickly to form a new board with extensive restructuring experience“.
However, owner BR Shetty, who is also currently in his native India, vowed to clear his name after his own legal and forensic investigations revealed “serious fraud and wrongdoing appears to have taken place at “NMC, Finablr, as well as within some of my private companies, and against me personally”.
In a strongly-worded statement, Shetty said the fraud “appears to have been undertaken by a small group of current and former executives at these companies”.
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