Mr Keane yesterday wiped away tears and left the dock to join his brother, Billy, after a jury announced its decision after only 40 minutes, a dramatically short time to reach a decision in a fraud trial.

As he walked free from the High Court in Edinburgh, Mr Keane, 54, said: "This has been a nightmare for the last four years and now it is all over.

"I just want to get home and be with my family."

The jury rejected the prosecution claim that one-time bank manager Mr Keane had used forged signatures to con his former employers, the Royal Bank of Scotland, into continuing to bankroll Livingston Football Club.

During eight days of evidence the 12 men and three women jurors heard how financial consultant Mr Keane dabbled in a pub business before his career progressed from the Parkhead boardroom to chairmanship of Livingston Football Club during their "golden years" when the team was promoted from the second division to the Scottish Premier League.

The charge, which Mr Keane had denied, described how the Royal Bank of Scotland agreed to convert an overdraft into a loan in April 2001.

They thought they were providing the money to a syndicate consisting of Mr Keane, lottery winner John McGuinness and multi-millionaire Glasgow businessman William Haughey.

It was alleged that the real losers were Mr McGuinness, 45, who had put up life assurance bonds worth £1.75m as security, and Mr Haughey, 53, who handed over more than £1m in an out-of-court settlement when RBS came after its money.

Mr Keane told the court that he had been made bankrupt and had lost his home.

Key witness Mr Haughey, boss of City Refrigeration Holdings UK, told the trial of a tense confrontation between himself and Mr Keane in January 2005.

It resulted in Mr Keane penning a letter "confessing" that Mr Haughey had never signed any of the bank papers, which ended: "I am genuinely so sorry."

But in the witness box Mr Keane broke down as he explained that what the letter said wasn’t true.

Furious Mr Haughey had demanded the note to get the bank off his back, he said. As he left court, Mr Keane said he had no comment to make about his one-time friend Mr Haughey.

But he managed a smile when asked if he intended to become involved in football management again. "No, I am going to enjoy the rest of my life," he replied.

Although it was agreed at the start of the trial that Mr Haughey never owned shares in Livingston, witnesses claimed he was the "power behind the throne."

Livingston also attracted the attention of former nurse John McGuinness, who had harboured a dream of owning a football team since his £10m lottery win in 1996.

He told how he was persuaded to turn over bonds that were earning him

interest of £12,000 a month to the RBS as security for money that was going to Livingston.

A separate civil court case involving Mr Keane’s brother Eddie and his former business partner Jimmy Jones and RBS is currently frozen. It is unclear whether that will be pursued.