The Emirates Central Bank instructed banks to freeze the accounts of Indian businessman BR Shetty, founder of troubled NMC Health Group.
Reuters news agency quoted banking sources as saying that the instructions also include freezing the accounts of members of the Shetty family and other shareholders in the group, including the head of the British company, Travelex, Khalifa Al Muhairi.
A spokesperson for Shetty and his holding company, PR Ventures, responded to the UAE central decision that it puts Shetty's companies and their employees and their ability to work in serious danger due to the public health problem due to the Corona epidemic.
NMC, which Shetty founded in the mid-1970s and became the largest private healthcare provider in the UAE, was placed under administrative guardianship this month.
On Monday, troubled NMC Health said it had requested the cancellation of its shares on the London Stock Exchange after it suspended trading two months ago.
Trading in the company’s shares was suspended two months ago, and it was subject to administrative guardianship this month on the request of one of its largest lenders, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.
Trading in the company's shares was halted after its value was more than halved since last December, when Madi Waters Consulting Company questioned its financial reports.
The company is facing problems related to the holdings of its major shareholders, and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank said this month that it had filed a criminal complaint in Abu Dhabi against a number of individuals - unspecified - related to the company. The company's lenders and guardians are in talks about the debt they have accumulated.
In recent months, NMC - which operates in 19 countries including Saudi Arabia - has adjusted its debt position to $ 6.6 billion, far exceeding previous estimates of $ 2.1 billion in June last year after doubts arose about the size of Shetty's possession and holdings Other shareholders.