Dubai: Owner of Atlas Jewellery, M.M. Ramachandran, who was in prison for defaulting on several loans, has been released on a conditional bail, sources have confirmed to Gulf News.
Known to many as Atlas Ramachandran, the 75-year-old businessman was serving a jail term in Dubai since 2015, after a court sentenced him to three years in prison in a multiple loan default case worth Dh550 million.
Hailing from the Indian state of Kerala, the business magnate with interests ranging from Jewellery, healthcare, movies, real estate and media, has been in negotiation with his 22 lending banks and three private lenders since early this year.
According to sources, Ramachandran, who founded Atlas Jewellery in 1981, was released several days ago after he managed to negotiate a standstill agreement with all his lenders.
Among the several conditions of his bail, Ramachandran cannot travel out of the UAE, the sources said.
Though, Ramachandran or any of his family members were not available for comments, the businessman is expected to be on a Malayali news channel, Kairali TV, tonight.
Once presided over a vast business empire consisting 35 branches of Atlas Jewellery stores across the Gulf, including 19 in the UAE, the businessman from Thrissur district of Kerala is expected to liquidate most of his assets to pay off his debt.
