EY warned NMC Health over bank account inconsistencies | Financial Times

EY warned NMC Health over bank account inconsistencies | Financial Times:

Auditors at NMC Health warned of serious problems in the verification of bank balances a year before the hospital operator collapsed in a suspected fraud involving more than $4bn in undeclared debt. 

A review by NMC’s auditors at EY found that Bank of Baroda, one of India’s largest banks, had confused accounts belonging to the FTSE 100 company with those held by its founder BR Shetty, according to documents seen by the Financial Times and people familiar with the matter.

Initially, EY feared that almost Dh1bn ($272m) of loans and overdraft balances had been omitted from NMC Health’s accounts before the Bank of Baroda clarified that the debt was owed by Mr Shetty, according to an audit memo.

The discrepancy — which was raised ahead of an NMC audit committee meeting in March 2019 — pointed to serious internal control issues in the company’s dealings with banks.