NMC’s hidden US$2.7b tips health chain into all-out scandal

A logo sits on display outside the NMC Speciality Hospital, operated by NMC Health Plc, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday, March 1, 2020.

DUBAI/ LONDON: NMC Health Plc found $2.7 billion of debt hidden from its board that was used for unknown purposes, tipping the troubled Middle Eastern hospital operator into a full-blown accounting scandal.

The company, which until last month traded in the FTSE 100, is trying to establish the exact "nature and quantum” of the debt facilities, but some of the money may have been used for unauthorized purposes, NMC said late Tuesday. The discovery more than doubles NMC’s borrowings to around $5 billion, up from the $2.1 billion that was disclosed in June.