Paris: Investigators postponed a decision Monday on whether French rogue trader Jerome Kerviel has the right to a retrial over his conviction for gambling away 4.9 billion euros ($5.5 billion), lawyers said.
The 39-year-old's unauthorised trading almost bankrupted his employer Societe Generale, one of Europe's biggest banks, but his defenders say he has been made a scapegoat.
He was sentenced to three years in prison in 2010, but was given a conditional release in September 2014 after spending less than five months behind bars.
He insists his employers were aware of his actions and launched a bid for a retrial in January saying the initial trial was "rigged".
"It's going to be a long battle. We are ready," he said Monday after an investigating committee said it was postponing its decision on whether to support a retrial.
His lawyer claimed the delay proved their request was "well-founded", while Societe Generale's lawyer Jean Veil said there was "no doubt" the demand would ultimately be rejected.
- 'Manipulated' -
Kerviel is basing his bid on testimony given last year by Nathalie Le Roy, a top detective in the case.
She told a court behind closed doors in April 2015 that she felt Societe Generale had "manipulated" her during the investigation in 2008.
According to a transcript seen by AFP, Le Roy told the court: "I had the feeling, then the certainty that Jerome Kerviel's superiors could not have been unaware" that he was taking wildly risky bets on equity derivatives.
In a bombshell revelation in January, Le Roy presented recordings of a former deputy prosecutor in the case, Chantal de Leiris, saying it was "obvious" that the bank was aware of Kerviel's shady dealings.
"When the subject comes up, anyone even a little bit involved in finance laughs, knowing very well that Societe Generale knew... it's obvious, obvious," says de Leiris in the recordings, made in June 2015.
- 'Pseudo-revelations' -
Kerviel's trades could have bankrupted Societe Generale had they not been discovered and unwound in time.
He was convicted of breach of trust, forgery and entering false data, but claimed his bosses turned a blind eye to his malfeasance as long as the profits kept rolling in.
Societe Generale has rejected what it called "pseudo-revelations" and a "new media manipulation" in the case.
Veil has dismissed as "nonsense" the idea that the bank knew of the rogue trading.
It is "implausible that those directly above Jerome Kerviel or the people who worked with him every day knew but didn't say anything," Veil told AFP in January.
He said Kerviel's colleagues would have no interest in covering up his risky manoeuvres for fear of jeopardising their bonuses, which depended on the performance of the team.
Kerviel was initially ordered to repay to Societe Generale the 4.9 billion euros he lost, but an appeals court overturned the order, arguing that the bank's internal oversight mechanisms had failed.
Societe Generale launched a fresh court bid to recover the money in January, but a decision was delayed until mid-June to see if Kerviel would face a new criminal retrial.
AFP
