UAE businessman BR Shetty alleges forged loan guarantees, seeks $15 billion from Bank of Baroda

Shetty has accused the bank and former NMC executives of fraud, forgery, collusion and misuse of his accounts.

Dr Bavaguthu Raghuram (BR) Shetty, founder of UAE-based healthcare provider NMC Healthcare and UAE Exchange, has approached the Bombay High Court seeking $15 billion (approximately ₹1.43 lakh crore) in damages from Bank of Baroda (BoB), its officers and former NMC executives Prasanth and Promoth Manghat, alleging fraud, forgery and collusion in the handling of the group’s finances.

The suit alleges that Bank of Baroda later initiated proceedings against Shetty in the UAE and secured a travel ban that kept him in India for more than three years. (REUTERS)

In his suit, filed through advocates Zulfiquar Memon, Waseem Pangarkar, Abhishek Gupta and Chinmay Bambarkar, Shetty alleges that after he relinquished control of the companies in 2012, the Manghat brothers cut him off from information, records, cash flows and banking facilities. He formally stepped down as chief executive officer in March 2017.

Shetty alleges former NMC executives cut him off from finances

Shetty alleges that the brothers took complete control of the company’s finances while BoB facilitated transactions through purportedly sham supplier accounts maintained on both sides of the transactions. He further claims that documents were presented to him in bulk and his signature was reproduced from a stored electronic template on loan guarantees without his consent.

Shetty has also accused the bank of ignoring more than 100 internal anti-money laundering alerts. The suit further alleges that the bank split balance confirmation certificates to conceal nearly AED 980 million in corporate debt from auditors Ernst & Young.

Shetty alleges false returns were submitted to RBI

When the alleged irregularities came to light in late 2019, Shetty claims, the bank made him a scapegoat by submitting false returns to the Reserve Bank of India. He alleges that bank officials induced him to sign an unread “comfort letter” before turning against him.

According to the suit, BoB subsequently issued a notice containing false allegations, initiated proceedings against him before the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts, procured a Look Out Circular (LOC) and secured a travel ban in the UAE. The bank also initiated proceedings seeking to restrain his properties in Bengaluru. Shetty claims these actions confined him to India for more than three years. The case was quashed by the Karnataka High Court in 2024.

The suit accuses the bank of negligence, deceit, breach of its duty of care, conspiracy and abuse of process. It also alleges breach of fiduciary duty by the Manghat brothers and malicious procurement of the LOC. Shetty contends that the bank’s silence after early 2019 undermined the validity of the guarantees and that the allegedly forged instruments are void.

The suit also points to BoB’s payment of approximately $600 million (around ₹5,700 crore) to settle claims brought by NMC’s administrators in Abu Dhabi. Shetty argues that despite the settlement, the bank continues to pursue him on the same underlying guarantees.