Novtej Dhillon owned luxury hotel group including the Crown Hotel, in Amersham

Novtej Dhillon was once the proud boss of a string of top-end hotels stretching from Buckinghamshire to Birmingham, including the Crown Hotel, in Amersham.

But it emerged in a court hearing this week that the apparent success was built on his relationship with a "dishonest" bank employee.

Clydesdale Bank Plc was duped into making £17 million in "unauthorised" loans to Mr Dhillon's companies, London's High Court heard.

The two Bucks hotels are under new ownership, while Mr Dhillon's reputation has now been comprehensively trashed by top judge, Mr Justice Nugee.

His collapsed empire included luxury boutique hotel, Stoke Place, near Stoke Poges; the Crown Hotel, in Amersham; the Liongate Hotel, Hampton Court and the Paragon Hotel, in Birmingham.

Dhillon tried to blame others, but the judge described him as a "wholly unreliable witness" whose explanations were not worth "any weight at all".

The businessman was a "full, complete and knowing participant in this fraud", the judge added.

The essential cog in Dhillon's deceit was well-respected bank manager, Andrew Seavers, who had worked for Clydesdale for over 30 years.

Describing him as "something of an enigma", the judge said the bank had viewed him as "a safe pair of hands".

He made no personal profit from the frauds and Seavers "found it hard to explain how he had come to throw away his career, and a great deal of the bank's money".

Dhillon used to take him to Chelsea matches at Stamford Bridge and Seavers and his wife celebrated their silver wedding anniversary at one of the hotels.

Giving evidence for the bank, Seavers said he was "stressed" and "not in his normal, right-thinking, mind" at the time.

"It is very difficult to understand how an experienced and well-respected banker could ever have got himself in this position," said the judge.

But the fact remained that Seavers "knew perfectly well" that he was lending millions to Dhillon without a shred of authority.

And the judge ruled: "I have no hesitation in accepting that Mr Seavers' actions were dishonest".

The bank had recovered more than £1.25 million from Seavers, who lost his job, his pension and his home, the court heard.

The beneficiary of Seavers' dishonesty was Dhillon, who lapped up the cash until the fraud was discovered in 2012.

He engaged in "an audacious, detailed and sustained fraud" and one transaction in particular was "a complete fabrication from beginning to end".

The judge accepted that Dhillon was not aware that the loans were unauthorised from the outset.

But, by the time he "entered into the conspiracy", his hotels group was already more than £4 million overdrawn.

After that, he was perfectly aware that the loans were unauthorised and would not have been granted if properly applied for.

Dhillon was ordered to repay almost £14 million to the bank, including over £1 million in guarantees.