HFW wins $1bn fraud claim for Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank against former NMC Health chief executive

Global law firm HFW has secured a wholly successful win for Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) in its $1bn fraud claim against the former chief executive of NMC Health – making it one of the largest cases to take place in the Abu Dhabi Global Market Courts.

ADCB is the largest creditor of former FTSE 100 company NMC Health, which collapsed in 2020 when fraud was discovered – where it was alleged that NMC’s senior management hid the true financial state of the firm from investors and auditors.  ADCB was not repaid following the collapse, leading to its claim of fraudulent representation against Mr Manghat – NMC’s former chief executive.

The initial proceedings of this case began in the Commercial Court, London in 2020, but following a jurisdiction challenge in 2021, switched to the ADGM in 2022. 

The claim was heard over a period of 15 weeks in a joint trial alongside a separate claim from NMC’s joint administrators against Mr Manghat, BR Shetty (NMC’s founder) and Bank of Baroda – one of India’s largest banks which was alleged to have been involved in the disputed transactions leading to NMC’s collapse.

The HFW team was led by Partners Andrew Williams and Damian Honey, and included Senior Associates Gordon Rieck, Roxanne Johnson, Frazer Watt and Joshua Prest throughout the duration of the dispute.