Zagreb - A Croatian district court Friday sentenced a former banker to six and one-half years in prison and to pay 96.2 million dollars in damages to a bank he nearly ruined with unauthorized currency trading.

The dealer, Eduard Nodilo, would however remain free until Coratia's Supreme Court tries him in an appeal.

Nodilo had inflicted more than 100 million dollars in losses to the Rijecka Banka by effectively gambling on the currency markets between 1997 and 2002.

He had managed to hide the losses by forging documents, while continuing to invest more and more money in hope that he would eventually his fortune would turn around and cover the deficit.

The scandal erupted in 2002 after Germany's Bayerische Landesbank (BLB) bought a 59 per cent stake in Rijecka for 41.2 million dollars without discovering the huge hole in Nodilo's paperwork.

The disclosure of previously hidden losses equalling more than half of the Rijecka capital triggered panic in Croatia, as clients flocked to withdraw their savings.

In the wake of the scandal, BLB pulled out of Rijecka and sold its stake back to Croatia for a symbolic, single dollar.

After it consolidated the bank, Croatia again sold it in 2004, that time an 85-per cent stake to the Austrian institute Erste Bank for 55 million euros (87.6 million dollars).

If the verdict is upheld by the higher court, Nodilo would be ordered to pay the damages to Rijecka's current owner, Erste Bank. (dpa)