Mumbai: BR Shetty, the founder of NMC Healthcare and UAE Exchange has filed a $15 billion suit against Bank of Baroda (BoB), accusing the PSU lender of colluding with his business group’s former executives to siphon off funds that left him facing liabilities on guarantees he said he never signed.
The suit, filed in the Bombay High Court, seeks $5 billion in direct damages for alleged fraud and negligence, $5 billion in consequential damages and $5 billion in compensation for reputational harm arising from various actions taken by the bank, including a lookout circular issued against him.
Shetty also sought 18% interest on the first $10 billion. The suit names BoB, several of its current and former officers, former NMC executives, other individuals and companies.
Shetty’s petition is linked to a case in the UAE that BoB settled in July by paying $600 million (around Rs 5,700 crore) to the administrators of the insolvent NMC and its affiliates. Administrators of the UAE-based healthcare group had accused the bank of facilitating improper transactions in cohort with Shetty, without doing due diligence and following proper anti-money-laundering and customer verification processes.
