20100830
reuters

LAGOS (Reuters) - A Nigerian court set a 500 million naira bail on the former head of Intercontinental Bank who faces charges of mismanaging the lender in the run-up to last year's $4 billion sector-wide bailout.

The figure is five times the amount set for the heads of four other lenders rescued alongside Intercontinental.

Erastus Akingbola was sacked by the central bank a year ago along with the four other bank chiefs and charged with graft and money laundering in absentia after leaving for Britain, where he had remained until the start of this month.

The cases against the bank chiefs are seen as a litmus test of Nigeria's ability to prosecute influential figures accused of financial crimes. The country is regularly ranked one of the most corrupt in the world by transparency watchdogs.

Bail conditions included securing three guarantors who own properties in the commercial hub of Lagos with evidence of their tax clearance.

"I think the bail condition is fair having regards to the facts of the case," Rickey Tarfa, a lawyer for Akingbola told reporters outside the Federal High Court in Ikoyi.

The bail was set high because unlike other bank chiefs, Akingbola left the country after last year's bailout.

Tarfa said Akingbola would remain in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) until the bail conditions were met