Finablr says will miss results reporting deadline

(Sharecast News) - Troubled payments firm Finablr on Tuesday said it would be unable to meet a deadline for the release of its accounts, without citing reasons.
Finablr, which owned the Travelex chain, changed its accounting reference date in June, meaning it would have to publish results by August 28.

"The company is currently unable to adhere to this deadline and will provide an update on the anticipated publication date when it is able to do so," it said in a filing to the London Stock Exchange, on which its shares are currently suspended.

Reports emerged over the weekend that the former chief executives of Finablr and related company NMC Health are among a group of 17 people who are claimed to have embezzled millions of UAE dirhams from the firms.

According to a report prepared for Indian billionaire BR Shetty, who founded the two firms, brothers Prasanth and Promoth Manghat, who led NMC and Finablr respectively, used forged documents to siphon off the funds.

The report, which was prepared by Emirati firm Wise Consulting and commissioned by Shetty, sets out allegations against the 17 based on the billionaire's bank records, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Shetty in April started an investigation into the alleged fraud, saying that it had been carried out by a "small group of current and former executives at these companies".

The company's biggest lender, ADCB, initiated criminal legal proceedings with the attorney general in Abu Dhabi against Shetty, who is currently in India, and a number of other individuals.

One claim in the Wise report is that Prasanth Manghat and other NMC employees "made payment transactions on the personal account of Mr Shetty at the Bank of Baroda, without having any authority or delegation on the account and sent transfer orders attributed to Mr Shetty". The transactions had a value of more than UAEDh1bn, the National newspaper reported, citing documents it had seen.

In 2017 Shetty stepped back from day-to-day management of the two firms, and he resigned as non-executive chairman in February.

At the end of last year, US short-seller Muddy Waters called NMC's finances into question, which led to an internal investigation which uncovered billions in undeclared debts.

The Manghat brothers, both of whom have left their respective companies over the scandal, deny the allegations.

A spokesperson for them said: "It is categorically denied that either Prasanth Manghat or Promoth Manghat have received any unlawful payments, and they strongly refute the accusations made that seem to be designed maliciously to distract attention away from those responsible for damaging the highly successful businesses they helped create."