According to a ruling by Judge Michael Burton in London, Akingbola had devised a strategy that directed the bank to acquire its own shares at a loss of about $902m, and placed the money on companies that were controlled by him directly or indirectly.

He was further accused of using funds from Intercontinental to buy real estate in the UK.

Burton added that the action by Akingbola "was simply wrong-headed, and was plainly a substantial contributing factor to the collapse of the bank."

The Nigerian lender, which was forced to accept bailout package, had filed a lawsuit in London’s High Court against Erastus Akingbola and sought to recover losses it incurred from the accused.

The Central Bank of Nigeria found him guilty during the probe in 2009.

Akingbola, who served as the managing director of Intercontinental from 1989 to 2009, had neither denied any unlawful scheme nor accepted that he was part of it.

Intercontinental, which was one of Nigeria’s four biggest banks, employs about 20,000 people and operates 350 branches.