French Rogue Trader Jerome Kerviel Attacks Former Employer Societe Generale [CORRECTION]
A previous version of the story incorrectly spelled Kerviel's first name as "Jermone."
Convicted French rogue trader Jerome Kerviel sued his former employer, French bank Societe Generale SA (EPA:GLE) on Thursday, alleging that the bank acted fraudulently during a historic French trading scandal in 2008, Reuters reports.
Kerviel himself received a three-year prison term for unauthorized trading in that scandal, which caused SocGen losses of 4.9 billion euros ($6.4 billion), according to the bank. He isn’t in prison yet because he is still appealing his conviction.
The rogue trading scandal hit in early 2008, during the start of the global financial crisis. Far left groups have defended Kerviel as a victim of the financial world, with Kerviel maintaining that his bosses were aware of the trades he made.
“No legal expert has ever validated Societe General’s alleged losses,” said Kerviel’s attorney David Koubbi in a statement. “It is now imperative that the court order an independent review that brings to light Societe General’s dealings, which do not conform to its status as a victim.”
SocGen declined to comment to Reuters. The bank reiterated in an October 2012 statement that it never knew of Kerviel’s fraud, and only discovered his fraud in January 2008, months after he’d made the bad trades.
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