Nigeria, Nov. 1 -- A British Virgin Islands (BVI) court has ruled that Ambrosie Orjiako, a former chairman and co-founder of Seplat Energy Plc, fraudulently concealed assets to evade a $220.3 million debt claim made by Access Bank.

The enforcement order, delivered by the judge, Abbas Mithani of the BVI Commercial Division, followed years of international litigation over a syndicated loan default dating back to 2013.

Justice Mithani found Mr Orjiako had devised a complex web of offshore share transfers to place valuable holdings in Seplat beyond the reach of Access Bank, the creditor.

"In the present case, the chronology of events summarised above shows a deliberate, systematic and fraudulent attempt, calculated to put the Shares beyond...